Born This Way
by Kaybee80
Summary: Season Two marked the beginning of Samcedes...but how would the relationship have panned out if Sam had been Mercedes' teacher? Based on a Tumblr prompt from erchills... Rated M for future naughtiness and language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is another prompt request from erchills…and I was challenged to write a Sam-as-teacher/Mercedes-as-student romance fic. I accepted the task, then immediately began to work through a scenario where I could comfortable with write such a thing. To be honest, it took me awhile.**

**Nobody in his or her right mind would ever call me prudish…plus, teachers sex students down all the time irl. But they also go to jail for it. And, I'm a mother…so I spun this thing in a way that stayed pretty much true to the prompt without giving me internet creeper feels. I hope you like it Erica!**

**I am starting this story in the S2 episode Born This Way. It has always been my belief that Samcedes got their true beginnings during that episode, so to me it made sense. It's an AU story, of course...with a lot of canon elements. It will probably span all the way to the S2 finale, and end with the handholding scene. This is gonna be my first and last attempt to write my version of all the Nationals in New York stuff, so I'm looking forward to coming up with some things. You already know I've run Prom Queen into the ground lol. **

**My plan is to make these chapters shorter than most of my updates; so as to write and publish them faster. I plan to update three a week for the next month or so; for a total of maybe eleven or twelve chapters. **

**Thank you Annikay! I know it's been a crazy week or so…post holiday work and whatnot. I appreciate how quickly you got back to me. So don't sweat the delay! Besides, I'm looking forward to your updates, too…Take all the time you need!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the characters of Glee, or their backstories either.**

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**Something New  
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Immediately following the New Directions performance of _Born This Way_, the group gathered together in the choir room for a meeting with Mr. Schuester. Their teacher had requested that they stay even later after school, so that they could have a very important talk. The members of the group, all brimming with excitement over the success of the number, moved down the hall hurriedly as a fleet, anxious to get there and resume gushing over how well they'd just done.

Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel led the charge; the newly single girl and gay friend squealing giddily together while they found seats side-by-side in the back of the room. The two discussed the song the choir had just sang, Kurt's recent triumphant return to McKinley, and the rules for obtaining a school charter for the chapter of PFLAG the gay teen was excited to be in charge of putting together…the whole time conspicuously ignoring everyone else in the room.

Then entered Rachel's ex-boyfriend Finn Hudson, and his girlfriend Quinn Fabray. The recently reunited pair walked in hand-in-hand and chose seats on the left side of the room together. Quinn, until about two months ago, had dated Dave Karofsky for most of the school year…they'd shared a deep religious background, in addition to a commitment to chastity and abstinence. However, around Valentine's day, she and Finn –who'd been reeling from his hurtful breakup with Rachel- had reconnected. Quinn cheated on her boyfriend, got caught lying about it, and had subsequently gotten dumped unceremoniously. Eventually, the girl allowed Finn pick up the pieces; and two weeks ago they reestablished the relationship they'd shared the previous year. Though the both of them seemed pleased to have found one another again, Finn and Quinn each took the time to steal several glances at Rachel while waiting for the meeting to begin. Finn did so in order to make sure his ex saw all the attention he now lavished on the girl Rachel always considered a rival. And Quinn, in a truly regal and condescending fashion, shot haughty looks directly into Rachel's face; no doubt gloating on the inside for having managed to get Finn back. Rachel only caught the first of these many looks, and stubbornly made sure to avoid the couple after that…choosing to concentrate on the animated conversation she was having with Kurt, instead of the couple she'd always detested.

Mercedes Jones was the next to enter, followed by her good friends Tina Cohen-Chang and Tina's boyfriend, Mike Chang. The Asian couple smooched as they walked, stopping only to briefly comment on Mercedes' review of their amazing show… before immediately resuming their kisses. When the threesome entered the classroom, Tina and Mike took seats in the center of one of the middle rows of risers, while Mercedes sat right in front of them. The girl glanced behind her right shoulder quite often; she was shocked to see that Kurt and Rachel seemed just as close as they had when Kurt attended another school. In the back of her mind, Mercedes had always felt like the pair was only friends for as long as they had nothing to compete over; assuming that whenever Kurt returned to McKinley…she would become his best friend again. One last glance behind her told Mercedes that the closeness was, in fact, still there. Actually, Mercedes admitted to herself, they now seemed even closer. She sighed heavily, and turned to face the front, with hurt and confusion drawn all over her features.

Next was Lauren Zizes and Noah Puckerman, McKinley's answer to Bonnie and Clyde, who chose seats in the far left corner of the room; i.e. as far away from the dry-erase board as physically possible. Then the couple proceeded to raid Puck's backpack for the pack of Snickers he kept on hand there for his lady. The male delinquent played a brief game of keep-away with the sweets, while his girlfriend pretended to put him in a headlock. Eventaully Puck relented; telling a God-awful joke about only giving Zizes the sweets in order to keep _her_ sweet…after that the couple opened the package and split the first bar between them. They spent the rest of the minutes prior to Mr. Schuester's arrival sharing chocolate and chocolate-flavored smooches.

Artie Abrams and Brittany Pierce followed the pair of bad-asses, Artie sitting contentedly in his wheelchair while his girlfriend pushed him into the room. The girl momentarily tripped on her own feet, because she was paying more attention to the doorway of the classroom than where she walked. After one last glance behind her, Britt wheeled her boyfriend to his spot in the front of the classroom, and sat down beside him to wait for their teacher in silence.

The last student to enter was Santana Lopez, as she was busy planting a kiss to the cheek of her boyfriend of five weeks, David Karofsky. While she bade him goodbye and promised to call him after school…Brittany watched, thinking about the troubled course of the Santofsky relationship. Brittany and Santana had been "friends with lady-kisses benefits" for years…something most of their friends knew about but never addressed publicly. And the arrangement had always worked out for them both. Recently, though, her best friend had decided to make other concerns a priority over time with Brittany. Santana was the one who informed Karofsky that Quinn was cheating with Finn; and had effectively stolen the brawny football player from her rival. The lovely Hispanic girl had flaunted her new relationship in the faces of all the New Directions, at a party thrown by Rachel in honor of Alcohol Awareness Week; and as recently as two weeks ago, the girl Brittany loved sang a lovely tribute to her boyfriend, in the tradition of a jazz lounge singer. Brittany knew in her heart that the song, called "I Love Your Bullying (Lardy) Ass," had been more than likely Santana's negative response to Brittany's refusal to dump Artie and be in an exclusive relationship with her. She also knew the only motivation Santana even had for seducing Karofsky lay in her desire to make Quinn miserable. But still…watching them together hurt.

The members of the group waited for their teacher; some basking in the throes of young love, and others wallowing in loneliness and confusion…so when Mr. Schuester walked in most of them barely registered his entrance. The person who came in right behind him though, made each and every member of the group sit up and listen. Mr. Schuester's companion was a tall, blond young man who appeared to be around the same age as the members of the Glee Club. He had a ruggedly handsome face; bright green eyes, a strong and chiseled jaw, and pink pillowy lips. He wore a red and blue track suit; the jacket opened enough so as to show off a Captain America-themed tee shirt underneath, as well as an abundance of well-developed muscles. The man –or, boy—stood off quietly to the side while Mr. Schuester began the meeting.

"Alright!" the curly-haired man exclaimed. "That's how we do GaGa in here!"

The class members looked around and smiled at the accolades.

"I want you all to know that the performance I just saw was the best one I've seen all year…Mercedes, Kurt, and Tina; your vocals were stellar, and the arrangement you guys did was phenomenal!"

Kurt left his seat, momentarily, in order to slap hands with Tina, then finally looked at Mercedes for the first time since they'd sung. The flamboyant teen offered Mercedes a "gay high five" in congratulations, which she took gratefully…before returning to his seat and beaming under all the compliments and attention.

"The rest of you," Mr. Schue continued. "Did a great job with the choreography and background vocals…I gotta say, I loved all the fancy footwork!"

The rest of the class murmured brief words of appreciation to their choir-mates, before Mr. Schuester took over once more.

"But that's not why I called this meeting," their teacher went on. "I've asked you here to introduce you to someone. Spring is finally here; and for teachers and students that means opening our doors to the seniors at Lima University. Over the next month or so you guys are going to be seeing a few unfamiliar faces around here, and I just wanted to introduce you to one of them. This is Mr. Evans, the student teacher Principal Figgins assigned to my classes."

Mr. Schuester crossed over and sat in a front row seat beside Artie, then gestured for the man to introduce himself "Take it away, Sam…"

"Hi!" the handsome man addressed the room. "I'm Sam Evans…but the first thing you guys should know about me is that I'm really not that much older than you. So right off the bat I'm giving all of you permission to call me 'Sam'."

"Sam?" Finn asked stupidly. He was having trouble absorbing the fact that this guy who looked like one of them could already be a senior in college. "That's your name?"

"Yep," Sam replied. "I am Sam…Sam I am." He jokingly added, "And I don't like Green Eggs and Ham."

A collective groan resounded throughout the room, as some of the class snickered, and others made faces. The more vocal members of the class, namely Santana, had no problem berating the young man for making such a horrible attempt at a joke.

"Okay, see…" the Latina started. "…I was just about to make you feel welcome by giving you a compliment on those soft-looking ass soup-coolers you call lips." She addressed the room at large. "But clearly, this dude is lame and has exactly zero game…so instead paying attention to whatever words of welcome you got planned," she turned back to face Sam. "I'll just roll my eyes and focus all my attention on your Ken Doll good looks while tuning everything you say out, Trouty Mouth!" And she did just that.

"I don't know," Mercedes asserted, before Mr. Schuester could demand that Santana show their guest more respect. "I think it was cute…and I love Dr. Seuss!" The girl felt bad for their new student-teacher, and wanted to make him feel more comfortable. Plus, she'd always had a soft spot for anyone willing to tell a joke…bad or otherwise.

Sam shot a grateful look at the cute girl and nodded his thanks for defending him before going on. "Well anyway…I'm Sam. And I'm about two months away from receivin' my Bachelors Degrees…in fact, I'll be receiving four of 'em. One in Music Composition, one in Mathematics, one in Spanish and the other in Education. When I met Principal Figgins, he was all set to pair me up with Miss Blethium, the Geometry teacher. But the whole time we were talkin' he kept mentioning you guys, and sayin' y'all were his second favorite musical group. I play a bunch of instruments, and I love to sing…so I requested he put me with whoever advises the show choir. When he found out I can speak Spanish, Figgins agreed."

"What kind of teacher are you going to be?" Tina asked, interestedly. She had always been pretty nosy, and usually wanted to know all she could find out about any new people she met, just on general principle. But this handsome, athletic guy with the Southern accent and an obvious love of music had the girl doubly curious.

"I'm not sure, yet…" Sam admitted. "…I have a lot of interests, and I suppose whatever I end up teachin' will depend on what job I find first. But right now I'm lookin' forward to helpin' you all win at Nationals this year!" He looked around excitedly. "Any more questions?"

"Yes, I have a few…" Rachel Berry answered swiftly. She looked extremely determined; something her choir-mates were more than used to seeing, to the point where her expression bored them senseless… but the blond teacher wasn't yet immune to antics of a stubbornly dogged Rachel, and he looked a little frightened my the look on the brunette's face. "You mentioned the fact that you aren't' very much older than us, and I must admit that, to me, you look very, very young. How old are you, exactly, Sam? And how is it that you are already almost finished with college?" She looked him over greedily. "Also, forgive me for saying so, but you don't look very much like a teacher. If you're planning to dress so casually for work, you're going to run into a lot of female students who want to date you…are you going to be allowed to take them up on their offers when that happens?"

Sam chuckled. "Well, the reasons behind me bein' so young are another conversation for another time…" Sam answered nervously, having wanted to avoid this line of questioning for as long as possible; and resenting the pushy teenager for putting him in such an awkward position. "As for the second part of your question…"

"Sam is allowed to date whomever he likes as long as he doesn't flaunt it in school and the girl he chooses is at least 16," Will Schuester answered. "He's not a School Board employee, Rachel."

While Rachel smirked approvingly, Sam continued. "And I'm dressed like this because it's after hours and I officially don't start work 'til tomorrow. Plus Coach Bieste gave me permission to jog on the track, and I just got finished. Anyone else?" He looked around hoping the next thing one of them said was less abrasive, or at least came from someone with a more friendly face.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Kurt asked. Not because he harbored any interest in the man himself, but because he could see a bottle blonde from a mile away and was curious. For the last two weeks Kurt had been happily ensconced in his new relationship with Blaine, and the blue-eyed boy was obsessed with the relationship statuses of other gay men.

"Uh, no…" Sam stammered. "…actually, I'm not gay; not that there is anything wrong with that! And I'm single, anyways."

"What about us?" Mercedes rolled her eyes at Kurt and interrupted again before the conversation became even more awkward for Sam Evans. "Do you want to know anything about the group before we all start working together?"

Grateful once again, Sam smiled at the kind and pretty Black girl. "Yeah, I do…First of all, why is your teacher wearing a shirt that says 'Butt Chin?" he sincerely asked the class; wanting to find out all the quirks of this new group as soon as he possibly could.

While Mr. Schue quickly started explaining the _Born This Way_ assignment, Tina and Mercedes gossiped between themselves.

"Look at you, girl…" Tina began. "…standing up for Mr. Cutey-Pie and stuff!" The girl gave her friend an approving look before adding "Getting your bid in early…I see you…"

"Girl, calm your nerves…" Mercedes was used to Tina's matchmaking and rolled her eyes at what she could tell was coming. "…that man is a teacher and I'm not interested in sending his ass to jail!"

"Whatever bestie…" Tina rolled her eyes right back. "…I see chemistry, and not the kind he does in college, either! I'm gonna table this discussion for now, because I know how stubborn you are and we're in class; but you _already_ know that I'm planning to get the full back-story on Mr. Sexy. And if I find out he's under the age of 20…"

"Whatever yourself, crazy…" Mercedes turned back to face the front. "Just leave my name out your nosy-ass mouth."

While the two of them traded friendly insults, Puck and Lauren brought around the tee-shirt printer, in order to make a personalized shirt for Sam. Laughingly, he agreed to have the tee shirt emblazoned with the name Santana had just thrust upon him. Then the whole class agreed to meet up later at Breadstix, so that their new member could wear his shirt and show his allegiance to the group.

While eating at the local Italian restaurant, Sam Evans took a little time to interact with all the members of the Glee Club in turn. He'd always been a really good judge of character, and wanted to form opinions about the personalities of the group he'd be spending so much time with as soon as possible. He figured out quickly that there was some kind of tension brewing between the tall, dark-haired guy wearing the shirt saying "Can't Dance," the scary dark-haired Jewish girl wearing the "NOSE" tee, and the smart blonde whose top bore the confusing moniker "Lucy Caboosey." Likewise, Sam sensed a palpable tension between the mean Latina girl wearing the "Lebanese" shirt, the bespectacled boy in the wheelchair wearing the words "Four Eyes" across his chest," and his girlfriend… the tall ditzy blonde who'd proudly shown him her "I'm With Stoopid" tee. Most of the boys were on the football team, and invited him to work out with them in the weight room sometime soon. And the large brown-haired girl who opened her sweater to reveal that she had chosen "Bad Attitude" to wear, as well as the obviously flamboyant boy whose shirt said "Likes Boys," had made it their business to fill Sam in on the exact parameters of all the drama. Lauren and Kurt regaled Sam with detailed explanations as to what prompted the New Directions members to choose what they'd each put on their shirts…and also made Sam feel like a true member of the team. By the time he'd promised to meet Lauren and her boyfriend Puck in the weight room the following day after school, Sam felt as though he really belonged. In fact, the only member of the group who he hadn't yet been able to give a solid identity to, was the same dark girl who'd been so kind to Sam in class. Mercedes, as he found out was her name, sat quietly a table away in her "No Weave" shirt; whispering to Mike Chang's girlfriend for most of their meal.

Around the time that their waitress brought desserts, Sam went to the bathroom and decided to approach the girl named Mercedes upon his return. He figured that it would be easiest time to switch seats, and in doing so, he could finally thank her verbally for her help in the classroom. But before he could slide into the seat Tina had vacated, Sam was beckoned over to where Mike and his girlfriend now sat all alone. Not wanting to be rude, he joined them.

"What's up, guys?" Sam greeted the friendly couple. "Having fun?"

"Yeah, it's been great," replied Mike;

"It was really sweet of Mr. Schue to take us all out to dinner…" Tina agreed.

"So did you have somethin' you wanted to ask me?" Sam inquired, still anxious to speak alone with Mercedes Jones once they'd finished.

"Yes," Tina shot her boyfriend a knowing smile, before going on. "First of all, I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for the way Rachel grilled you about yourself in class. She's pretty much the rudest person on Earth, and was more than likely only doing it because of some ulterior motive..."

"Oh, yeah?" Sam asked, distractedly.

"Yeah, she and Finn and Quinn have had this three-way-drama fest going on for the past couple of years. They date each other, use each other to make one another jealous, then break up and start again. So her wanting to know why you're so young probably wasn't meant to be snarky…not much anyway. If I know Rachel, she was only doing it to see if she could get away with asking you out."

"Tee's right," Mike continued. "Prom is just around the corner, and there's a good chance she wants to use you to make Finn angry. We just wanted to warn you to steer clear of her if she does…"

"Well, thanks…" Sam responded, gratefully. It was nice to have people watching out for him. "…But there's no chance in hell I'd get caught up in that! I can read people pretty well, and I already know she's not my type…"

Mike nodded and shot him a friendly thumbs up.

"So, you'd say 'no' because she's a freak, and not because she's so young?" Tina asked slyly. "I have to admit, I was just as curious about your age as she was…and so was my best friend Mercedes." Tina shared a sneaky look with her boyfriend when Sam Evans visibly straightened in his seat. "But we've got better manners than to ask a teacher about his personal life in school."

"Mercedes?" Sam, who'd involuntarily perked up at the mention of the girl's name, was now interested in whatever Tina had to say. "The girl who laughed at my joke…she wondered about me, too?"

"Yep! Tina nodded, inwardly squealing because she'd seen the curiosity and hopefulness all over Sam's handsome face. "So is it a secret or something? I mean, can you tell me and Mike how old you are and how you're here? I promise if you don't want us to tell, we won't…" Tina lied, knowing she never keep gossip this juicy from Mercedes.

"Oh, no…it's not a secret." Sam shook his head. "I'm 18."

Again, Tina squealed to herself, intending to go on grilling the guy she'd already picked out for her bestie.

"And I don't care if the rest of the class knows…" Sam cut her off. "…But like you said, it's personal and we were at school. If you wanna know, I'll tell you all about it…"

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**A/N: Notes? Questions? Comments? Let me know…**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This picks up right where Chapter 1 left off… Sam's explaining to his new friends why he is so young. I hope you guys can follow the trappings of my mind!**

**Thank you Anni…I just realized that I sent you three chapters at one time like a psycho. I'm so sorry for the homework assignment! WOO WOO WOO *said in the voice of Sinclaire from **_**Living Single**_*** Does that make it any better? I'll think before clicking send, next time lol. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Glee franchise or any of the things that the owners of the Glee franchise own. **

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**The Same Evening…**

Over cannoli and gelato, Sam explained to Tina and Mike just how he came to end up student-teaching at McKinley High as a teenager. First, he described the day in his Nashville, Tennessee second grade class, when he'd been paged to the guidance counselor's office in order to complete an intelligence test. His teachers were becoming frustrated with the 6-year-old's poor academic performance, and had requested that his parents consent to the school finding out whether he qualified for "special circumstances." At the time, Sam knew he wasn't as good a reader as most of his classmates…after all; he'd been in the "slow reading" group since the year before. But Sam made sure to perform as well as possible on the alphabet, counting, and comprehension exercises that'd been placed before him.

The next day, Sam was flanked by his parents in the counselor's office for a review of what the testing had uncovered…and the aforementioned guidance counselor suggested softly, but firmly, that the Evanses allow Sam to be included in the "Special Education" program at school. Melissa Evans, Sam's mom, who'd been a professor at the collegiate level for most of her adult life; had been shocked. When the counselors had requested the "testing," they'd alluded to Melissa that Sam would be given a series of batteries to determine whether or not Sam belonged in the school's "gifted" programs…they'd allowed her think that _those _were the "special circumstances" mentioned in the permission forms. Melissa knew her son didn't exactly bring home the best grades…but she also knew that his problems could very well have been the product of boredom. Melissa was livid that she'd been purposefully misled by vague wording, and demanded that her husband dis-enroll their son from the school. Daniel Evans, Sam's father, agreed with his wife…He was also aware that his son hadn't been purporting himself in a manner that the school could brag about, exactly. But he also knew that oftentimes, educators jumped the gun on matters such as these. How, Daniel questioned, was the school to know that their son couldn't do the work with more help? In his opinion, the counselors were taking the easy way out. So the decision was made, and the elder Evanses immediately took measures to ensure that their son no longer attended Graham Elementary.

After the trio returned to their home, Sam was sent outside to play while the adults discussed their next move. Eventually it was decided that Melissa would resign from her job and devote herself to helping her son develop academically. Melissa's first call of duty had been to have her son tested by actual doctors; physicians who took detailed scans of her son's brain to seek out any potential abnormalities, and gave him complete workups that would alert them to any physical symptoms of developmental problems. Sam was proven to be physiologically healthy. Next, Melissa and Sam began visiting a psychiatric pediatrician, who probed the young boy for clues about his emotional and mental growth. Sam, explained the doctor, could very well be having emotional issues that manifested themselves as inattention during school lessons. Yet again, Sam was deemed stable and well-adjusted.

A concrete reason however, was found for Sam's stunted ability to learn and retain schoolwork when Melissa had the boy meet with one of her former colleagues. Jeremiah Bentley was a Psychology professor who'd spent years teaching at a home for the disabled. He was familiar with learning disabilities, and often found himself suggesting that his friends get their children tested for autism, attention deficit disorder, and in one particular instance, a mild form of Tourette's…because he recognized certain symptoms early on. They were the kind of disorders that Dr. Bentley had become very astute at seeing the signs for, and more times than not…he was proven correct. Following an exercise where Sam was instructed to draw pictures of his favorite things; Dr Bentley got inkling that the boy might be an undiagnosed dyslexic. You see, Sam had struggled to make an extremely accurate drawing of a bicycle, but had inverted the placement of the handlebars, despite all of his attention. After that, the man asked the young boy to take as much time as he wanted; while forming the letters of the alphabet. Most of the letters were, in fact, made perfectly. However, Sam had painstakingly drawn other ones backwards. After discussing this with Melissa and Daniel, they specifically sought a counselor whose specialty was dyslexic children, for a proper "official" diagnosis.

After the boy was diagnosed, Melissa made contact with a local school whose curriculum included hiring out tutors for the dyslexic, and got her son enrolled in the "home-school" version of the program. She bought teaching tools, class itineraries, and lesson plans…all so she could teach her son how to cope with his disorder at home. And teach she did…for the next several years, Sam learned a new way to learn, in the most structured, yet enjoyable home school ever taught.

Sam had been required everyday to get up at the pre-prescribed time, just like a regular school day, and get dressed for his studies like any other student. His days were mapped out to the minute, and he was expected to attend all his classes as religiously as any child in the local Elementary school. He was allowed an hour for lunch and an hour for music lessons, as well as an hour of playtime outside everyday…and at the end of every month Sam was given a variety of tests that gauged his advancement.

Sam enjoyed spending his days with his mother, who was nicer than any teacher he'd ever encountered. And he quickly learned that the "tricks" he was being taught to help him learn, worked. He used them to fool his mind into absorbing information in a way that he could fully comprehend it; and as a result, the boy who was once thought to be "slow," was ahead of his own classmates! As a matter of fact, by the time Sam's twin siblings were born, he was ten years old and could easily complete a tenth-grader's school assignments.

Tina had tears in her eyes by the time Sam finished his portion of his story, and her boyfriend visibly welled up in righteous indignation for the small child being picked on by his school administrators. Sam thanked them silently for their commiseration and continued his story.

When Sam's siblings were less than a year old, he explained, Daniel lost his job as a result of a post-Reagan Trickle Down Economics-era National economy. The family of five subsequently lapsed on the mortgage to their home, and were cast out onto the street. The Evans family, who'd always had more than enough money as a result of Daniel's job as a successful and sought-after architect, was now destitute and forced to live with Melissa's parents. Sam, who had been looking forward to being home-schooled his whole academic life, was now required to enroll in public school so that his mom could look for work. When the school system tested the boy to ascertain his academic abilities; Sam had scored completely off the charts! There was a healthy debate among the school administrators and Sam's parents; concerning what the young boy was capable of academically, versus what he was ready for emotionally. But when all was said and done it was decided that the ten-year old would be attending ninth grade at the start of the new school year.

Sam whizzed through his classes; and quickly impressed his teachers with his ability to conquer concepts well beyond the limitations of most children his age. He worked hard, and studied religiously; thereby completing all four years of high school in only three. It has to be said that a huge portion of why he was so dogged about his studies lay in the fact that Sam had no friends. His classmates had social lives that he had little to nothing to do with; and quite frankly, the boy had nothing in common with even the nicest and most accepting high schooler. Aside from study sessions organized by various cramming overachievers -to which Sam had only been invited in order for grade-hungry climbers to pick his brain and get higher grades- Sam rarely spent any time after school with his peers. And he spent nearly all his free time studying...which was proven evident in his graduating class standing.

His parents, who had initially felt guilty for not being able to provide at least a private school education for their gifted son, were overjoyed when Sam was named Class Valedictorian. They were giddy when counselors brought them in to discuss his options for higher education. Happily, the family sent for and received applications for entrance to some of the most prestigious secondary schools in the country. When the acceptance letters started to roll in, the family came to terms with the fact that a newly teenaged Sam was bound for college… during a time when most kids have only puberty to worry about.

"What made you come to Lima University?" interrupted Mike, fascinated by the young man's story.

"Yeah," sniffed Tina. She was still feeling very sympathetic towards a younger Sam, and the tears wouldn't stop for anything. "You could have gone to any school you wanted to!"

While the rest of the New Directions left the restaurant, exhausted and full of food…Sam explained to his two new friends that his father had located a job in Lima. The position paid well enough that the family would finally be able to own their own home again, and Sam had briefly toyed with the idea of leaving his family to roam the halls of one Ivy League school or another. But a heartfelt discussion with his parents –in which they tried to encourage him to take up one of the many scholarships he'd been offered to attend famous institutions and establish himself forever- was what finally convinced Sam otherwise. Sam knew that, ultimately, he wanted to live with his family. Besides, he went on, any genius can go to Harvard and be recognized as a genius… Sam was being given a rare opportunity to have a normal experience; i.e., his college years spent at an accredited State University...and the chance to continue living with his parents for a few more seasons. Sam was excited to enroll at LU.

While most quote/unquote "geniuses" took a lot of pleasure in majoring in courses of study that would ensure them a lifetime of money and recognition…Sam was very different. He had no desire to be a doctor, although he could identify, chart, and name the bones and muscles of the body as well as any surgeon by the age of twelve. Neither could he stomach the thought of making a living as a famous and well-paid attorney; although he'd taken and passed the bar exams for six different states for fun as an undergrad. To Sam's way of thinking, the best and most satisfying way for a person to make him-or-herself useful in this world was to teach children, and teach them well. He remembered how his old school system had given up on him early on. Sam also remembered the dedication his own mother had shown in taking up where they'd left off. He wanted his opportunity to show another child, somewhere, that same kind of care.

So he majored in his favorite subjects, and supplemented them with several courses taken purely for enjoyment. He neither concentrated on graduating early, nor did he honestly care if he got academic accolades…the man was there to take in everything under the sun. He was older now; and even though Sam was still younger than his peers, he had more in common with them than he had as a high-schooler. Sam didn't join a fraternity or try out for school drama productions; he'd never been good at seeking out or belonging to any "cliques." But he played various intramural sports, and loved to exercise. He spent the majority of his free time in the school gym, and managed to enjoy himself while enriching his mind.

Five years after enrolling, Sam was a semester away from graduation; hence his new appointment with Lima City Schools. Sam looked forward to doing his job well…but it must also be said that this chance represented the first time in Sam's life that he'd be surrounded by people his own age. Sure, he was an educator of sorts, and was expected to _teach_ the people he also wanted to befriend; but he looked forward to becoming a full-fledged member of the group as well...for once in his life, Sam Evans was in right place at the right age.

"Do you have your own place?" Tina asked…she knew there was no way on Earth that Mercedes' parents would ever let her date a guy who had his own apartment, and she wanted to make sure that particular roadblock wouldn't be an issue. She was getting more and more excited about the possible match, and wanted to see Samcedes together already!

"How cool would that be?" Mike pondered. "To live alone without parents around…it would be awesome!"

"Maybe," Sam allowed. "But I wouldn't know. I still live at home; and I plan to until I graduate and find a real teaching job…Trust me, I'm not that different from you guys." He wanted these cool kids to identify with him, not stand in awe…

"Wow…" Mike breathed. "…Dude, I gotta say; you're like, the coolest person on Earth!" Sam preened; this was the first time a boy his own age had ever called him 'Dude!' "And you'll definitely fit in with us Glee Clubbers," Mike continued. "None of us are what people would call "normal kids."

"He's right, Sam…" Tina added, taking up where her boyfriend left off in trying to make Sam feel included. "…we're all a bunch of freaks, but that's what makes us family. And the way you broke with convention and did your own thing? You're like…my hero!" Sam blushed. "A freaking rock star!"

The trio stood up and started making their way to the door. "So, are you guys going to tell everybody, or just let them all come to me?" He could tell Miss Cohen-Chang lived for gossip, and couldn't wait to dish the dirt to her friends. "Because if you did you'd be doin' me a big favor…that story takes a long time to tell." Sam gestured to the almost empty parking lot that indicated the restaurant was nearly closed.

"Well…" Tina pretended to think about it. "…I honestly was only going to tell Mercedes; like I said, she and I were both curious. But now that I know it won't bother you…"

"Don't worry, dude…" Mike cut in. It was getting late, and he and Tina had curfew to consider. "…my girl is all over it!" he reassured Sam. Then the couple said goodbye and they all went their separate ways.

* * *

**A/N: My goodness, this is fun…**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter Three…things are getting good, in my opinion. This is where I will let everyone see how I dealt with the fact that Sam wasn't at McKinley in the beginning of the year. A little AU-osity, if you will. I had a blast coming up with this stuff, and I hope you guys like it!**

**Thanks Anni! You gave me some awesome suggestions…you need to be writing this thing lol.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the characters of Glee.**

* * *

**A Little Deeper…**

The next day in Glee, the class quickly found out why Mr. Schuester had been so excited to have a student teacher the day before. He'd taken them all out to Breadstix, not only so that Sam could get familiar with the group; but also to butter the young blond man up. Apparently, the seasoned teacher was looking forward to spending an extra free period mooning over Miss Pillsbury! As soon as everyone was seated, their teacher provided the young man with tapes of past performances, a dry erase marker, and a list of possible lesson plans; then immediately turned the class over to Sam and bolted.

Sam looked over his new charges, smirking inwardly, because he'd expected Will Schuester to do as much. He'd sat through half of Mr. Schuester's first period Spanish class, learning students' names and grading multiple choice pop quizzes from the week before while Mr. Schuester led the class in their daily dictation exercise. But one of his students had struggled with the pronunciation of commonly-used greeting. Mr. Schuester had either chosen to ignore the pupil's distress, or quite possibly, hadn't known the difference. Either way, Sam was able to correct her and the rest of the class. The end result? Sam taught the remainder of the class period, while Will Schuester graded the tests. Sam pondered Schuester's hasty retreat briefly, then addressed the choir. "Well," he said, clapping his hands together nervously in front of himself. "By now I know you guys have heard my story…" Tina blushed in memory of the phone tree she'd organized to dish the dirt. "And I got to know a little bit about y'all, too. So I hope we can be cool enough for this to be fun right off the bat."

"So what you got planned for us, Guppy Face?" Santana asked. "Betta not be any Doogie Howser shit; I come up in this piece to have fun, not to learn!" Sam knew this was a test.

"I pretty much just wanna find out everything I can about Glee Club, S-Lo," Sam returned. Sam was already familiar with Santana's ways; she was in Mr. Schuester's third period Spanish class, and had loudly informed their teacher that she was glad he now had Sam around…because she'd grown sick of hearing him butcher her native tongue all year. Then she'd shot Sam an approving nod. Sam knew the girl was extremely abrasive, but that her respect could be definitely earned. So he used what he felt was the best way of addressing her snarky comments. Sam could see, from the moment her sinister smile was replaced with a genuine bout of laughter, that he'd done the right thing. Sam figured that any other student-teacher would have chastised the girl or demanded an apology for disrespect. But playing the teacher card would have immediately branded him as "the man." By joining in with the playful banter and giving as good as he got, the class would now trust him in a way they were not used to interacting with authority figures.

Amidst the laughter that washed over the class, Artie spoke up. "Good one Sam…So what do you want to know about us?" he asked.

"Can you tell us about what all you've done so far this year?"

"Of course!" Rachel was the first to answer, smiling brightly and speaking loudly. "First of all, you should know that we New Directions aren't exactly popular around school…Despite my talent and the fact that many of our members belong to various sports teams, we get very little in the way of respect from our peers."

"Oh," Sam answered. "That's too bad. I don't know why, but I kind of assumed some of you were the BMOCs and HBICs." He looked around the room at all of the students wearing letterman jackets and team uniforms, allowing his eyes to linger on Mercedes Jones…who Sam was sure had a football-playing boyfriend and a large group of friends.

"Well, you were wrong…" Rachel corrected. "…we get slushied in the halls every day, and people pull pranks on us religiously. We, as a group, were down a member at the beginning of the school year; so we performed _Empire State of Mind_ in the courtyard to see if any others could be persuaded to join. Show choir by-law states that we must have twelve members on the team during all competition performances…"

"Okay, so how'd that work out?" Sam asked the room.

"We had one girl try out, and she was a good singer…Almost as good as Mercedes," Artie started, shooting Mercedes a grinning glance. "…but Rachel scared her ass away by sending her to a crack house. She sings for our biggest competitor now."

"O-kay," Sam said slowly, expecting someone to yell "gotcha!" It seemed as though the Rachel girl was someone he needed to watch in the future. If underhanded tricks of that nature were common for her, then her continued presence could have an adverse effect on the group. After filing the information away, Sam asked, "What else?"

"We had Britney Spears Week right after that…" Puck answered. "…on account of she's popular as shit and we still needed folks to join."

"So…" Sam was curious.

"In a roundabout way it worked," Puck continued. "We performed _Toxic_ at a pep rally with Mr. Schue and everybody in the bleachers was digging it. Even my baby…she joined later on in the year," Puck reached out to pull Zizes' chair in closer to his, his lady responded by giving him a nuggie.

"_Toxic_?" Sam grimaced. He wasn't exactly a huge Britney fan, but he knew enough about that song to question Will Schuester's willingness to have them perform it. And it sounded like the guy even sang it with them. Was he some kind of creeper?

"After that we had a week where we sang nothing but songs about faith." Tina continued. "It was great…I even got a solo!"

"Oh…" Sam shrugged. "…that doesn't bother me, I'm a Christian." He wondered briefly why getting a solo was something Tina felt the need to point out specifically; because it suggested to Sam that leads weren't given out fairly. Perhaps Schuester didn't just lack judgment and the ability to speak Spanish…he apparently lacked classroom management skills as well.

"So are Quinn…" Mercedes smiled at her former sister. "…and I," she finished. "It took some time to get there, but in the end nobody was offended. Of course, it didn't hurt that the week in question was a pretty tough one, and some of us kinda needed the boost." The girl looked behind her shoulder to Kurt, who was grasping Rachel's hand; apparently he was grateful to his former arch-nemesis for her part in throwing a prayer free-for-all in honor of Burt Hummel. Sam noticed it when a scowl replaced the beautiful smile on Mercedes' face, although he had no clue why it had happened.

"Then we had a duets competition to decide which two of us would sing the lead at Sectionals," Finn kept going. "Everybody paired off and afterward we voted."

"Who won the contest?" Sam asked…wanting to figure out who the most talented members were.

"Quinn and Karofsky…" Finn answered.

"Who's Karofsky?" Sam hadn't met anyone named Karofsky.

"He's Quinn's ex-boyfriend…" explained Santana. "…who now prefers my company," she crowed, touching her hand to her chest and shooting Quinn a victorious look. Quinn scowled. "He joined back in October, after he got hurt on the football field."

"Where's he now?" Sam asked. "Is he sick or something?"

"Hell nah…" Puck replied. "…that pussy-ass motherfucker quit after Kurt left, and my girl threatened to beat his ass," laughed the mohawked boy, as he slapped palms with his giggling girlfriend.

"Kurt left?" Sam asked, by now recording the lesson on a digital recorder so as to playback later. He didn't want to miss anything at all.

"Yeah…" offered Mike. "…Dave was bullying Kurt, and the school couldn't do anything about it; so he transferred to another school."

"But that wasn't until later on in the year; and obviously, I'm back now. Anyway," Kurt picked the story back up. "…after that we had Sectionals, Mash-Off competitions, and we put on _Rocky Horror Picture Show_ as a fundraiser…"

"You'd have been really hot as Rocky," Brittany interjected, while the rest of the girls nodded in agreeance.

"Who played him?" Sam asked, blushing at the compliment.

"It was Puck," Quinn replied. "He almost got thrown into Juvie for stealing an ATM right before that; and got off on the promise of community service and positive extracuriculars."

"I wasn't even mad," Puck shrugged his shoulders. "Gold booty shorts beats fighting teenage gangbangers in the shower any day…"

"What about Dr. Frank?" Sam was curious as to who portrayed his supposed love interest. Not that there was any hope that the person playing the transvestite could possibly be…

"It was me," smiled Mercedes. "I had a blast…"

Sam returned her happy grin, and briefly focused for the first of many times, on the mental image of Mercedes wearing Tim Curry's _Rocky Horror_ costume. Fortunately Finn's voice stopped the tightening he was now experiencing in his slacks.

"After that, Kurt's dad and my mom got married and we all performed at their wedding," Finn supplied. "That's when Kurt left and Lauren joined so we could still perform at Sectionals."

"We still didn't have twelve members," explained Tina. "But we used a guy from Jazz Band to make up the numbers, and tied with Kurt's new Glee Club. That's how we made it through to Regionals."

"What else?" Sam was enjoying himself.

"After that we caroled through the halls of McKinley, singing Christmas songs for the school…we got heckled; and a teacher even threw a shoe at us!" Mike explained animatedly.

"And we performed _Thriller_ for the half-time show for the big playoff game, too." Artie let him know. "I'm the only dude up in here that can sell vocal runs…so all the MJ and Stevie belongs to _moi!"_

"Then we all did a show on Valentine's Day with Kurt's group at Breadstix, and then we had Justin Bieber week…" Quinn continued.

"You guys like Bieber?" Sam asked, fighting not to show any excitement.

"Us girls do…" Mercedes replied, "…and the guys formed a tribute band to make us happy."

"Anything else…"

"Not really…" answered Rachel. "…I mean, we had Alcohol Awareness week here at school and Figgins asked us to perform at the assembly."

"But thanks to Rachel we were all drunk when we did it…" Brittany amended "…and we ended up throwing up all over each other."

"Did y'all get into any trouble?" Sam wanted to know. He'd never had any friends entice him with alcohol, because he'd never made many friends. Also, he wondered how everyone getting drunk was Rachel's fault. It seemed as though she was a bad influence on top of being cruel.

"Mr. Schue made us promise not to drink again until we won Nationals…" Mike answered. "After that we spent some time writing original songs, and used them to win at Regionals."

"And are you writing your songs for Nationals?" Sam asked.

"Mr. Schue says it's up to us," answered Mercedes. "And we're having trouble coming to a consensus."

"Why not take a vote on it?" Sam suggested. "Majority wins."

"Some people seem to think their votes deserve more weight than others…"Santana answered, looking pointedly at Rachel and Finn. "And Mr. Schue agrees. So even though our votes always come out 7 to 5, in the end the shit always gets read as a tie…"

"Okay," Sam had had enough information about that for now, and he crossed over to the whiteboard. "So tell me what kinds of music everybody likes best…so I can get a feel for what y'all like to sing the most."

"Show Tunes!" Kurt and Rachel shouted first, followed by an immediate chorus of "Jinx!" Then Rachel recovered enough to further enlightened Sam. "You'll find that show choir judges expect competition contestants to sing a preponderance of music sung in the style Broadway musicals. The music is catchy, the songs are familiar, and the dance numbers are breathtaking. I think you'll find that we New Directions will perform at our most engaging, if you take a page from Mr. Schuester's formula; and…

"I like alternative best…" interrupted Tina, while Lauren nodded her head in agreement.

"Classic Rock," nodded Finn. "Good music is always timeless…"

"Hair Bands," argued Puck. "All your shit is way too deep, man…"

"I like country music," the tall blonde girl everybody called Britts admitted. "Pop, too."

"So do I," said Quinn, in Britts' defense when everyone else groaned. "Girl groups and golden oldies stuff, as well."

"I'm mostly into jazz," added Santana. "Blues too...but some of that indie rock shit is on point…"

"Me and Artie are into hip-hop, mostly…" offered Mike, as he stood up to do a pop-n-lock move. "…I'm a dancer, and he's like the best rapper in the group!" Sam looked peculiarly at the boy in the wheelchair, who was popping his collar.

"And you, Mercedes?" he asked, after it was clear everyone else had taken a turn. "What do you like to sing best?"

"I love all music…" she shrugged. "…I guess I'm partial to R&B and gospel; but I'm okay singing just about anything."

"Okay, that's good…" Sam looked over what he'd written there and decided to give the class his first assignment. "We've got about twenty minutes before class ends, so I want all of you to pick somebody whose genre meshes, or at least compliments your own…and get together to pick out a song. I wanna see how y'all sound singin' what you love best."

So Kurt and Rachel paired up immediately, followed closely by Quinn and Brittany. Then Mike pushed his chair over to where Artie sat and Tina and Lauren shifted closer together. Finn and Puck stood off to the side; then finally Santana and Mercedes met on the bottom row of risers.

"Y'all can spend the rest of class time discussin' what songs you like in common…then tomorrow you can come prepared to sing me a verse and a bridge. Sound good to you?"

Everyone nodded, and then started to work on their song selections.

"Great," Sam beamed, before preparing himself mentally to circulate the group, helping them choose. If he also happened to spend some extra time getting to know Mercedes; then so be it…

* * *

**A/N: Hi! How's the redo sitting with everybody? Too off the wall for you?**

**I hope not… because I can't be the only one who felt like Quinn could have saved herself some trouble by dating Karofsky. Like, a whole lot of trouble…**

**Come on, that dude is stuck all off in the closet…And she was a recovering teen mom. So who was he gonna pressure for sex? Nobody, that's who…Quinn would have been safe and still had the popular boyfriend. And Karofsky could have worked out with her or something to get rid of all his nervous energy. I'm saying, Quinn shoulda got up on that.**

**And I never liked Puck getting ghost during the school year. It may be my Zilla thirst rearing its ugly head, but I hate that he never got to see Mercedes do **_**River Deep/Mountain High**_** or be Dr. Frank-n-furter in **_**Rocky Horror**_**. He missed out on some great stuff by ending up in Juvie, so I fixed that shit.**

**And can we just focus for a second on how unfair it is that Kurt got all up Mercedes' ass about religion during Cheezus week? Come on, dude…you know that girl wasn't trying to convert your ass! If she had been, she would have been on that mess from the get-go. All year. But Mercedes was just trying to give Kurt some comfort –sidenote, anytime Mercedes busts out the Whitney shit done got real- and he went the hell off. Rachel's ass threw a damn séance for Burt in the hospital, and invited a Medicine man and a HooDoo woman to boot, but didn't get the whole lecture! What type of fuckery? No me gusta… **

**Anyway, if you have any questions or comments, leave me a review. Love you all!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm writing this on Sunday, June 14, 2013…the day after Cory Monteith was discovered dead in a Canada hotel room. Right now, I don't know how Cory died… I don't know what the autopsy report will reveal. All I know is that I am very sad and appalled. It's hard to write when you're in a state of shock.**

**Even though I no longer watch the show; I am a little concerned about what the writers of **_**Glee **_**will do. I have no clue if Cory's death will be written into the script; whether or not Finn will meet his untimely demise, like his fictional father. Is Finn's role going to be appropriated by another teacher hopeful? Are they gonna have Puck or Mike or another past ND come to lima become Mr. Schuester's new heir apparent? Will some unknown element be brought in to fill Finn's shoes? I hate not knowing…I really do.**

**Because my writing this story –and really, all of my stories- is my way of paying homage to a bunch of fake people I love and love to hate, I now have to figure out if I want to address real life concerns while writing them. A shot of reality has seeped into this fictional world I love so much, and will more than likely color it somehow. Now I have to make decisions about things just like the writers of the show do, and it's hard. I just hope what has happened doesn't in any way make it harder for people to still feel invested in the characters. I hope **_**I **_**still feel invested, to be perfectly honest. So right now, I guess I'm just counting on all our Gleek love to see us through and praying for all the people who are dealing with the loss of a guy who was dearly beloved.**

**Y'all help comfort each other, okay?**

**Thank you Annikay for all of your encouragement…I'm hoping everybody else shares your opinion on this. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

* * *

**Deliberations**

Sam took a moment to glance around the room at the group, wondering where he would start and whether or not he could add anything of substance to his new students' deliberations. His gaze focused on a happily chattering Kurt and Rachel, and instantly, he decided to make his way for the pair fist. Partly because he wanted to get it over with; Sam could readily admit to wanting to minimize any and all contact with Rachel Berry if he possibly could. Also, it seemed as though the couple of friends were already deep into an animated discussion about what they planned to perform. Beginning with them would give choir members who hadn't made quite as much headway more time to think.

So he approached Kurt and Rachel, and arrived by their side just in time to hear the tail end of a heated debate…Rachel was lobbying for Barbara Streisand's _My Man_ as a performance piece, while Kurt argued vehemently for _Some People_ from "Gypsy." Immediately, Sam knew what he could add to the friendly banter.

"Kurt, Rachel?" Sam began. "Do you mind if I ask you two a few questions?"

"Not at all, Sam," Rachel brown-nosed. "Kurt and I would be happy to answer any queries you might have about Glee Club and how we do things here. As the undisputed star of the group, I knew that eventually you'd require my personal input on the inner workings of our little ensemble. Actually, I'm impressed by how you instinctively came to come to Kurt and I; as we are definitely your best bet if you want an accurate reading on what makes us all tick…"

Sam cleared his throat. "Uh…thanks. But I just wanted to talk to you about your song…" Rachel looked disappointed, and Kurt rolled his eyes at his friend. "So, I heard you two arguing over which show-tune you'd sing. Would you mind telling me some of the other songs you'd ever sung together before now? Just as a frame of reference…"

" Well, we sang against each other in the first ever Diva Off; each taking a turn singing our own rendition of _Defying Gravity_ from "Wicked"…I, of course, was ultimately victorious, and subsequently won the right to sing lead," bragged Rachel.

Kurt scowled. "We also performed a duet at the beginning of the year…a mash-up of_ Get_ _Happy _and_ Happy Hays Are Here Again_," Kurt added, after biting his lip in an attempt to keep from addressing Rachel's cockiness. "I'm the only countertenor in the group…and tend to choose songs traditionally sung by female artists. The notes are well within my range. Would you like to hear a sample?"

"That won't be necessary…" Sam replied. "Mr. Schuester gave me video recordings of most of your guys' past performances, and I'm steady gettin' through 'em one by one. "Great job on _Rose's Turn,_ by the way." He turned to congratulate Rachel, as well. "_Don't Rain On My Parade_, too…" The girl beamed.

"So does it bother you that I usually sing songs written for female vocalists?" Kurt went on, warily. "Because Mr. Schuester had a problem with it; that's what led to the aforementioned Diva-Off in the first place. If I need to have that in mind while we choose…"

"Oh not at all…" Sam was quick to reveal, wondering why an educator would have such a small-minded view of what a performer should and should not be allowed to perform. "…but I_ am_ a little worried about the fact that you two never seem to veer much from traditional Broadway. Don't you like all show tunes?"

"Kurt and I are both well-versed in the rich history Broadway, and study _Le Catalogue_ extensively, in its entirety," Rachel seemed offended. "We just prefer a more traditional sound."

"But what about the unexpected? Shows like "Rent" and "Avenue Q," or "The Boy From Oz," that celebrate alternate lifestyles?" asked Sam. "Or plays like "Dreamgirls," and "M. Butterfly;" which feature minority casts? I mean, if you're so married to the stage…shouldn't you also try and get comfortable with the music that people don't automatically think of when they think of Broadway? You know, just to keep your performances fresh?"

Kurt seemed thoughtful. "I have to object to the idea of Rachel and I performing a song from "Dreamgirls"…based solely on the fact that Mercedes sang _And I Am Telling You, I'm Not Going_ last year, and I can admit her rendition shamelessly brought me to tears. As far as I'm concerned, no one in this room other than Ms. Jones has any business even attempting it. However, I do love_ I Am Not The Boy Next Door_…"

"I supposed I can admit that Kurt is correct in his assessment of Mercedes' talent for singing songs of a soulful nature…" Rachel muttered, sounding as though she were choking on the compliment. "…which would tend to preclude me from attempting any songs from "Dreamgirls" as well. But she and I sang a song from "Rent" together several weeks ago. So you see, I have no objection whatsoever to performing songs outside the norm."

"Just not with Kurt?" Sam probed. He wanted to see if the two Broadway babies were open to experimentation as partners.

Kurt and Rachel looked at one another briefly, before relenting.

"Sam's right…" Kurt admitted. "…and I'm willing to commit to forgoing singing anything ever performed by Patty and Judy, if you will also agree to eschew any sung by Barbara and Liza…" he challenged Rachel.

"I'm in," Rachel agreed briefly. "We'll think of something fresh and perform that for your assignment…Thanks Sam; Kurt and I will get right on it…"

"Great," Sam replied, before walking away.

That handled, Sam went in search of a new pair to mentor. He focused first on Finn and Puck, who were also in the throes of a heated debate.

"But Puck!" Finn was whining. "Even _you_ sang _Sweet Caroline_, and _Run Joey Run_ in class! You helped Mr. Schue dedicate _Over the Rainbow_ to us, too…So why do we have to sing something crazy for the assignment?"

"Okay shut your fucking mouth, Hudson…" Puck returned. "…I only sang the first two because I was trying to separate Berry from her Under-Roos at the time. And the other one was a favor for Teach, so I took one for the team. As far as I'm concerned, if _you're_ not down with Bon Jovi or Queen; then we ain't got shit to sing about together!"

"But we already did that stuff!" Finn argued, finally seeing Sam there. "Remember _It's My Life_? And it's not like we didn't kick ass when we did _Don't Stop Believing_ and _You Can't Always Get What You Need _at , we owe it to ourselves to stick to what works!"

"Fuck that, Finn," Puck kept going. "You k know good and damn well that your Journey fixation is all about Mr. Schue. It's_ his_ favorite kinda music, and anyway _you _always got to sing lead…I'm saying; what the hell is wrong with _Fat Bottomed Girls_ and _Shout It Out Loud_? Hair bands rock!"

Sam silently agreed, because he was very prone to singing solo renditions of Poison's _Every Rose Has Its Thorn_ in shower, himself. He also wondered why Mr. Schuester would be so heavily invested in foisting his own musical preferences on the group during competition. But he didn't say any of that to the battling boys. Instead he attempted to mediate. "Well," he interrupted. "Have you two done any songs together that you both liked?

Puck seemed to think. "Yeah, _Good Vibrations_ was the shit…"

"The rap song?" Sam asked. "Sweet…what else?"

"_Empire State of Mind_ was great, too…" Finn added.

"There's another one; so why don't y'all do a rap for the assignment?" Sam wondered aloud. "I mean, if that's the only genre of music you can both can agree on, and you have fun doin' it?"

"Not gonna happen, dude," Finn answered. "We had Mercedes singing the hook both of those times. So without her, we basically can't sell it."

"Yeah…" Puck continued. "…So unless you're willing to let Sexy Mama in on our little group; that's gonna be a big-ass Hell To The No!"

"Can we get Mercedes to help?" Finn asked excitedly. "Because it definitely would help!"

"Fuck no," Puck answered before Sam could. "That wouldn't be fair to all the other groups, unless she guest-starred on their shit, too. Come on, bro…we can come up with something; meet in the middle or whatever. We'll find a group that rocks, and then sing their most inspiring song…that work for you?"

Finn offered Puck a bro-fist. "Cool…"

Crisis handily averted, Sam went to help the next group. He made his way over to where Mike and Artie were discussing their song selection, and was intrigued by the formula the two boys seemed to be relying on with respect to what they might sing.

"Why don't we do _I Don't Wanna Know_? It'll be great…I can rap the Diddy part while you sing the chorus!" Mike said excitedly. "I already know most of it and the beat would be great to dance to…"

"Yeah," Artie agreed. "Or Mario's _Crying Out For You_…You, know; the remix with Lil Wayne. That could be dope…"

"Hey, guys…" Sam interrupted. "Call me crazy; but am I sensin' a pattern here?" He looked from Mike to Artie and back again. "Is there a specific reason why all of your song choices feature a rapper and a singer together? Because you gotta know that it makes me wonder why the _both _of you don't sing…"

"I can't," Mike admitted simply. "Or rather…I can't sing like Artie does. Besides, I'm mostly here to dance anyway."

Sam shook his head and wondered if this too was a result of Mr. Schuester's penchant for pigeonholing students. "Not anymore," Sam replied forcefully. "I saw the tape of you two performing _PYT_. And it was great. Mike, it's pretty obvious to me that you love music just as much as Artie does, which means if you want to sing… you should. I promise no one in here will judge you."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that," Mike told him. "I did a song with Tina for Duets Week…I told you about that already. So it doesn't bother me to sing in front of my friends. But the best I can do is carry a tune; and Artie can _blow_…" He shrugged his shoulders. "He deserves the spotlight."

Sam was appalled that someone under his tutelage would honestly believe some performers deserved more of the limelight than others, so he decided to correct his pupil as soon as possible. "Dude…" Sam was getting used to the moniker Mike comfortably addressed him by, and tried it on for the first time. "…my favorite song by Michael Jackson is _Human Nature._ The main reason I like it so much is because it's probably the most romantic and lovey-dovey serenade tune ever written; and I hope one day I can sing it for a girl I like…" He cast a brief peek to his left, where Mercedes Jones coincidentally, was speaking to Santana Lopez. "Now, I can sing pop songs and country music like nobody's business…" Sam continued. "…but when it comes to vibrato and all that signature King of Pop stuff –you know, the 'hee-hees' and grunts?"

The duo smiled and nodded.

"…well, I know I can't pull it off the same way as him. But don't you think I still look forward to using the song to woo a pretty lady?"

Artie and Mike nodded a second time.

"That's right. I fully intend to do it and do it proud some day…comparison be dammed. And so should you, Mike."

"I agree…" Artie put in. "…But what do we do about the assignment?"

Sam thought for a second before responding. "I think I can justify allowin' the two of you to do the kind of song you wanna do, because of the genre that you chose. So I'll give y'all express permission to sing a song that features a rap portion; but I'm going to need you to stipulate to a few conditions I have as well."

"Shoot," said Mike.

"Number One: I want you to choose a song by somebody you consider our generation's Michael Jackson. Artie mentioned him on my first day here, and you two have already performed one of his songs together already. So it makes sense. Plus, I cold totally see you two singing that song by Michael and his little sister Janet…you know, _Scream_? So reboot it using somebody closer to our own ages…"

"When you say 'our generation's MJ…" Artie prodded.

"I'm talking Chris Brown, Usher, Mario…" Sam answered. "…guys who use MJ as inspiration; they sing in his genre, they're gifted dancers, amazing vocalists, big performers…"

"Okay I get it…" Mike seemed to ponder something. "So can we do Usher's _Daddy's Home (Hey Daddy)?" _Mike asked. "The remix with Plies? That would fit…and it could be hot…"

"Yeah, that's my shit too…" Artie agreed. "I'm in!"

"Well, I'm not!" Again, Sam was appalled. "That's not gonna work for me. And don't get me wrong; I like the song… But even without the rap part it's hella inappropriate. _With_ the rap, it's downright nasty!"

"So?" Artie shrugged, "Mr. Schue doesn't mind it when we get suggestive…he says to sing what we feel."

"Well, not with me in here, you won't…" Sam shook his head. "What if Figgins walked past?" He shivered with horror. "But you get the picture. Something like that, but school-appropriate; okay?"

The guys nodded.

"And Condition Number Two: I want you, Mike to help Artie sing the chorus of whatever song you pick. I wanna hear your voice, regardless of how you think it measures up against Artie's. Do we have a deal?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah, we do Sam…"

"Sounds like fun," Artie nodded. "Thanks for all your help Sam."

After which Sam took his leave. The next group Sam decided to offer some assistance to was Quinn and Brittany. Quinn seemed to be heavily invested in –for lack of a better word- preaching to a confused-looking Britt, and Sam could see both blondes were becoming frustrated by the exchange. He took a deep breath, and went over to mediate.

"Got room over here for another blond?" he joked. "Or do I need to go find a redhead to help?"

Quinn giggled, while Britt shook her head emphatically. "No, Sam…don't go! Quinn and I need your help."

Sam peered at Brittany, realized that she'd taken his quip seriously, then decided not to explain. It didn't seem worth the headache…

"How can I help you guys?"

"Well," Quinn started. "Brittany and I decided not to do a country song, because we both want to dance, and pop just seems like a better choice. But we're having problems deciding on an artist because New Directions has already run Britney Spears into the ground and I can't do any justice whatsoever to Christina Aguilera. We were just discussing the merits of maybe doing a Mandy Moore song…"

"Can Brittany sing like Christina?" Sam asked. "Because if _she_ can you could always do more of the background vocals, Quinn."

Both Quinn and Brittany looked at Sam with disbelief written all over their faces before bursting into laughter.

"No!" Quinn rolled her eyes. "The only person in this room with anything even resembling X-Tina chops is Mercedes. So the rest of us just steer clear…"

Sam was beginning to see a definite pattern; so far every group in the class had mentioned Mercedes' voice. He knew he'd be spending some extra time that evening seeking out her performances specifically. All in the name of becoming a great teacher, of course…

"…and anyway, usually whenever Britts and I perform together we do it with Santana, Motown-style. And I always sing lead…"

"Care to share a few examples?" Sam asked.

"Well, we auditioned for Glee Club with _Say A Little Prayer For You_, and I did the Dionne Warwick part." Quinn explained.

"And when we sang _You Keep Me Hanging On_, Quinn got to be Diana Ross," supplied Brittany.

"Brittany, have you ever sang lead on a song?" Sam knew the blonde was primarily a gifted dancer, but figured she'd probably made an adequate vocal showing when she auditioned. He didn't want any of his students to feel like one-trick ponies, and he'd already put the kibosh on a similar attitude in Mike. If there was anyway Sam could also stifle the mindset in Britt, he would.

"Yeah…" she answered. "Britney/Brittany Week I did, and then when we did a Ke$ha song at assembly. But Quinn says we'd need the AV club's magic microphone, so I can't do that here in the classroom."

"And I was right!" Quinn cut in. "This is a small assignment, not an assembly for the whole school. So unless you have Richie Zambora's talk-box hiding in here or that Auto-Tune microphone available for classroom use, I should probably sing lead. Now, like I was saying; Mandy Moore…"

"Quinn," Sam was starting to see another pattern, here. "Have you ever performed anything originally sung by a man in Glee?"

"Of course…for Funk Week last year," she replied. "I sang a song by James Brown."

"Yeah, that time you and all the other pregnant girls sang a song about how shitty boys are," Britta nodded emphatically. "She did a great job!"

Sam had heard from Kurt and Zizes that Quinn had given birth to Puck's daughter the year before, and could see plainly that she didn't have the best overall opinion of men. Regardless of how valid her opinions may have been, and what her reasons for forming them were, Sam decided to coach the determined young feminist in what he saw as a healthier approach to song-selection.

"Okay, for the two of you I have a few suggestions that I'd like you to take into account before you make your final choice."

Quinn glared at him with an icy calm that totally belied the kind and friendly expression she'd worn only moments before.

"I gave every group in here something to think about when they picked, too Quinn," Sam reassured her. "I _am_ the teacher after all…"

Quinn calmed down. "You're right; go ahead…"

"Okay, Number One: You say you like pop music; and even though I was looking forward to maybe hearing you two sing a Dixie Chicks ditty, I agree with your reasons for changing your mind. But I wanna hear you do your take on a boy band number."

Quinn bristled while Brittany clasped her hands together. "Really? We can do a Backstreet Boys or 98 degrees song?"

Sam nodded. "Or N'Synch or LFO…take it back to New Edition or New Kids On The Block; or hell, the Beach Boys for all I care. But pick one song; a fun song about parties, or dates, or you know…surfing, and sing it for the class. I want to gauge your voices based on how you sound when you have fun…can you do that?"

Quinn relented. "Okay…anything else?"

"Yes," Sam answered. "Also, I'd like you to try and coach Brittany enough so that she can sing at least a line on her own. Work with her if she has trouble hearing or approximating notes. I think your friend and teammate might actually surprise you. Can you do that too?"

"Okay," Quinn replied after having thought about it. "She helps me all the time with dance moves on the Cheerio practice field." Quinn faced Brittany. "I didn't mean to imply that you can't sing, Britt…"

"No problem," Britt shrugged. "It'll be fun!"

"Well, great!" Sam was relieved that there weren't more hurt feelings, and beat a hasty retreat to where Tina and Zizes sat. This pair of students weren't so much discussing song choices, as they were simply talking about all their favorite songs and agreeing with one another. One partner would mention a piece, they'd discuss the merits of it briefly…then the suggesting party would sing a portion of it. Sam was able to eavesdrop long enough to hear several samplings of both girls' voices…which was a good thing, because he hadn't found much yet in the video recordings he'd been given. Tina favored REM, Green Day, and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers…she sang snippets _of Losing My Religion_ –lamenting that she hadn't been allowed to accompany Finn when he sang it in Glee- as well as _When I Come Around_ and _Under The Bridge_. Lauren preferred artists who sang in decidedly less…ahem…melodious tones. She sang her favorite parts of _Smells Like Teen Spirit_ by Nirvana, _Loser_ by Beck…and surprisingly, _Pretty In Pink_ by The Psychedelic Furs. He was impressed by both girls' knowledge of older music, as well as their excellent taste in music. After listening for a few minutes, he chimed in and startled the pair.

"Have you guys ever performed any alternative rock songs with the group?"

After recovering from the momentary shock, Lauren answered. "We did _Sing_ by My Chemical Romance one time…it was fun!"

"And I know they're more indie rock than alternative…" Tina answered. "…but Mercedes and I sang Florence and the Machine's _The Dog Days Are Over_ after Regionals. It rocked!"

"Oh, yeah?" Sam had expected to hear Mercedes' name being praised to the high heavens sometime before leaving this group, and Tina didn't disappoint.

"Yeah…actually, I kind of wished Lauren had admitted to liking jazz music earlier. Because I know she does, and if she had I could have sang with Mercedes again…" Tina shot Zizes a mock angry face.

"Trust me, Cohen-Chang; _nobody _wants to see me and Consuela face off again…" Lauren laughed. "…besides, it's not like I get to sing with Ms. Jones either! And she's my client…"

"So what would you sing if you could sing with Mercedes?" Sam asked interestedly. He figured if she was going to be such a consistent focal point for the group when discussing singing and performances, then he might as well use it. Besides, he was learning more and more about the girl with every group he visited…

"Something by Coldplay or the Foo Fighters…" Lauren suggested. "…my girl hits notes that regular folk can't even touch. So I can see her wailing on _Everlong_ or _Fix You_ and put even the bands to shame…"

"I agree," Tina added. "Mercedes can sing anything; I'd love to hear her take on a Wheezer or Soundgarden song. She'd probably embarrass the whole class. But I suppose we should just try and do what we can with what we have…"

Lauren shrugged. "What do you say we try and find a song to sing that'll make Ms. Jones proud of us?"

"Okay, but still…"

"I get it," Sam chuckled, tickled by how assured the whole group was of Mercedes' talent and star power. Finally, after having finally put out all of the potential fires among the other groups, Sam gave himself permission to approach Mercedes and Santana. By this time, the young man could readily admit to having something of a crush on Mercedes…he was impressed by her kind ways, and intrigued by her friendly smile. It also must be said that Sam was positively enthralled by Mercedes' lovely, sexy looks, as well. He'd been looking forward to having a moment to speak with her in relatively one-on-one setting; and despite the fact that Santana would be within earshot, Sam couldn't wait to learn more about the girl. She and her were sitting closely, heads together and murmuring quietly about the assignment. Even though Sam had no clue what exactly they were deliberating or whether or not they even needed his assistance, he went ahead and interrupted anyway.

"I don't even know why I came over here, to be honest…" he started, attempting to break the ice with a combination of flattery and humor. "…because there's no way on Earth the two of you need _my _help.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Santana shot him a dirty look. "Lemme guess; you already decided for yourself that someone else –or maybe two someone else's- are gonna be your go-to stars, and you want to devote all your attention to working with them?" She shot a frustrated glare directly at Rachel, then turned it on Finn before returning her gaze to Sam. "I don't even know why the hell I find that shit surprising. I mean, Schuester _is _your mentor!"

Sam was shocked enough by the woman's vitriol to consider the unspoken ramifications of her words before explaining his comment. "No. That's not it," he reassured Santana, and Mercedes –who'd reacted to Santana's words with a dejected expression that broke Sam's heart. "I just meant that every group in the room has managed to mention Mercedes' voice; so I figured you two needed my help about as much as_ I_ need a bottle of nail polish."

Mercedes looked skeptical. "Rachel complimented my voice? Somehow I find that hard to believe…"

"Well," he admitted, "granted, it was an _indirect _and_ unwilling_compliment…"

Both Santana and Mercedes laughed, and eventually Sam joined them.

"So why don't you tell me what you guys were discussing so intently."

"Well," Mercedes began. "We were having trouble picking an artist who's music represents both of our favorite song elements. Santana loves jazz and blues…you know; the kind of stuff you expect to see sung live. She wrote and sang this great little ditty for her boyfriend a couple of weeks ago…it was exactly like something you expect to go hear a lounge singer perform in a smoky nightclub. Girlie channeled the spirit of Amy Winehouse, and it was the bomb…"

"Yeah," Santana picked up where Mercedes left off. "I'm into Nina Simone, Etta James, Billie Holliday, Peggy Lee… that kinda thing." She gestured toward her partner. "But Wheezy here is more into recorded shit, stuff like what you see in music videos. She's forever singing songs in class by Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Whitney…and she lays it down every damn time! So we're trying to figure out how to meet in the middle."

It was apparent to Sam that despite Santana's callous approach to friend-making and caustic personality, that the Latina had a lot of respect for Mercedes. It made him soften toward her ever so slightly. It was also evident that Mercedes respected Santana's talent immensely as well. He knew he'd have no trouble helping them find something that suited both parties.

"Well, can you think of some of the stuff you've done together in the past and pick your favorite?" he suggested. "Like a jumping off point?"

Santana seemed to consider the question for a moment before responding. "Well, despite the fact that Re-Re and me sang it in class because we were fighting over Puck at the time…" Sam raised an eyebrow to them both. "…I always liked how we sounded when we did _The Boy Is Mine_."

"Let me guess…" Sam said knowledgeably. "…more singin' what you feel?" It was apparent that Will Schuester pretty much let these kids perform whatever they got the notion to perform, and Sam wondered briefly whether or not the partners had managed to complete the song without shoving one another around. After the girls nodded, he rolled his eyes. "What else?"

"I don't know, Santana," Mercedes argued. "I liked the duet we did this year better. River Deep/Mountain High lit the whole class up."

Sam nodded. "I bet it did…" He shook off a mental picture of Mercedes doing Tina Turner's famous booty-shake dance before going on. "I think I'm gonna have to go look though the tapes Mr. Schuester gave me before I can comment either way. But until I do, what do you like best about those particular performances?"

"I like singing with Ms Franklin over here because I don't have to hold back with her as my partner," Santana answered honestly. "I never get to blow like that…you know, sing mad; unless it's with my girl, here." She playfully booped Mercedes' nose and they both dissolved into giggles. "But we, honestly, coulda sang _The Wheels On the Bus_ and I'd have been happy. So I guess it really doesn't matter if we sing something old or new," Santana shrugged.

"Same here…" Mercedes agreed. "…_River Deep_ was fun to me, because we got to play around with actual soul and true R&B. I don't get many opportunities to do that in Glee…"

Sam was surprised. "Not even with Artie?" He remembered seeing footage of them performing _Lean On Me_ and _Proud Mary._ Surely they'd done at least one of those numbers at competition…

"No," Mercedes replied briefly, her full lips forming a thin line. "We never perform together anywhere but in the choir room or auditorium for practice."

"Okay…" Sam didn't want to delve deeper into something that obviously a sore subject with the girl. Although he did make up his mind to address it with Mercedes, should they ever happen to spend any time together away from the choir room. "…So what if we try to find a contemporary artist who's influences include some of Santana's favorites? That way you could interpret one of their songs in a way that you both will like!"

"Like who?" Santana challenged. Obviously she had misgivings about Sam's musical tastes.

"I don't know…" Sam pretended to think about it before revealing how knowledgeable he actually was about music. "Like Adele, Lauryn Hill, Chrisette Michele…Jilly from Philly."

It was Mercedes turn to raise one eyebrow and giggle uncontrollably. She slapped his arm without thinking, and asked "Boy, what you know about Jill Scott?"

Sam chuckled, rubbing the place where Mercedes' small palm had grazed his forearm. The cute girl packed quite a punch in those tiny hands... "I know I used to have this life-sized poster of her that I tacked to the ceiling of my room when I was fourteen." When the shock he'd been expecting registered over the girls' faces, he grinned and went on. "And I know my mama made me take it down because she didn't like the smile I had on my face every morning when I woke up. I know if I could crawl inside Jill's voice, I'd pack my belongings up, move in, and never leave…I also know I'd love to hear your guys' interpretation of one of her songs. Maybe _A Long Walk_?"

"Ohhhh," Santana grinned evilly. "So Fish Face likes his girls with a little some-something to hold onto! I see you, Blondie. And I get it…my man got all kinds of chunk-monsters hiding underneath his letterman." She poked out her chest. "And he don't mind the twins either…"

Sam immediately removed the smile he'd been wearing from his face; he didn't want his students to think it was okay to overshare with him while on school property. There was a time and place for TMI, and McKinley was neither. Mercedes recognized what Sam was reacting to, smiled and decided to bail him out of another awkward moment by addressing it with her homegirl.

"Sam's not like Schuester, Tana…" the girl started. "…he doesn't wanna know what you and your man get up to in the bed of his pickup truck. And he's right. We can find a song by one of these artists, and pour all kinds of Sancedes honey on it for the assignment. So let's get to it, ok?"

Santana shrugged. "Whatevs, but thanks for the help, anyway Sam." It was the first time Satan had referred to their student teacher by his given name, and he beamed.

"Yeah, Sam" Mercedes agreed. "You rock!" They shared a sweet smile, which Santana caught and shrewdly ascertained as flirtatious…then the bell rang and the class exited the room. However, before the end of the day Santana made sure to call a Glee Girls Emergency Summit Meeting for the following day; to be held in the choir room after last period. She had something to say which required a captive audience…

After the last Gleek left, Sam picked up his messenger bag and repaired to the Spanish classroom; so he could wait for Mr. Schue. Once the teacher made it, the young man excitedly explained the assignment he'd given the club and invited his mentor to come and watch the performances. Schuester, who'd been looking forward to leaving campus the next day during Glee period so as to bring Miss Pillsbury lunch from Breadstix, hemmed and hawed. Sam attempted to change his mind.

"I appreciate the invite Sam," Will began, "but I wouldn't want to jeopardize any authority you may have managed to establish with the class. If _I'm_ there, there's a good chance the group will automatically defer to my opinions instead of yours; despite the fact that you were the one who made the assignment. Don't you want them to see you as the person in charge?"

Sam could tell a poorly constructed excuse from a mile away, but played along. "That's true…but I think you might be surprised by what the class comes up with. Maybe you could peek in from the hallway for a few minutes? Just to see for yourself?"

Will opened his bag and removed a few test papers for Sam to hand out once his Spanish 2 class arrived. "There's not much chance of me having any major revelations, Sam…I pretty much know what all the members of show choir are capable of." Will felt guilty for attempting to get out of it momentarily, enough to relent slightly. "But I'll see what I can do…"

"Good," Sam sat at Mr. Schue's desk and got ready to teach the Spanish lesson he'd planned the night before. "Because you never know…"

And with a skeptical look, Will took a seat in the back of the class for a nap, while Sam waited patiently for the first pupil to arrive.

* * *

**A/N: Y'all just don't know how much I can't stand Will Schuester. He's the worst teacher ever; in my humble opinion. I mean, even before I knew the fool couldn't speak any Spanish I had my side-eye moments. **

**He's forever letting his kids sing shit that they have no business performing in school…and hell, sometimes he sings it with them! He's guilty of favoritism in every single episode, and the fool is actually stupid enough and inappropriate enough to share details of his personal life with a bunch of teenagers! Not to mention all the crap they talk about in class that he ought to stop in its tracks; but he just lets it go on and on. It's almost like the guy **_**enjoys**_** knowing about all their kiddie drama. Anyway, my mom taught school for over forty years; and I find it hard to appreciate an unprofessional teacher. So this fic is now a Schue-Shade tribute.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I guess at some point I should have broken down the days here…so as not to confuse anyone, so I'll do it now. Chapter 1 and 2 happened on a Monday…ND performed **_**Born This Way**_** at the beginning of the next week after Rachel's whole nose-job deal. I wanted to make the first time NDs met Sam happen on a Wednesday or Thursday, because I wanted them to go out Saturday and make this whole thing more of a whirlwind romance. The entire story is only gonna encompass a time frame of about three or four weeks, after all…**

**But it didn't work out that way. I got bogged down in performances and Glee girl meetings, so I made an executive decision. The good news though, is that I've decided to let the story bleed over into the summer.**

**So Chapters 3 and 4 take place on Tuesday, and today's update starts Wednesday morning. **

**Busy week, I suppose.**

**Thank you Anni! Can't wait; type fast lol!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the characters of Glee. I also don't own any of the songs used in this chapter.**

* * *

**Change Is Afoot...  
**

Mercedes Jones pulled into a parking space in McKinley's lot Wednesday morning, tired and not quite ready to face the day. She'd had a hard time sleeping the night before, because the singer spent much of the night switching back and forth between thoughts of extreme gratitude and curious confusion. Mental acrobatics, she'd realized, weren't exactly conducive to a good night's rest.

Mercedes was grateful…really grateful, in fact…to none other than Sam Evans. He'd quickly become one of the more refreshing elements in Mercedes' life recently…and she had no problem admitting to that, even to herself. Sam had done a great job teaching the choir in Glee rehearsal the prior afternoon; he'd assigned a great lesson, he'd actively attempted to give real tips for each group…and even managed to compliment her in the process. It was refreshing, to say the least. Also, Mercedes made sure to speak with certain members of the other groups after leaving school on Tuesday; namely Tina, Puck, and Quinn. And she'd been pleased by what they'd shared with her.

Mercedes found out about the different circumstances under which each pairing had mentioned her name during deliberations, and she delighted in the compliments she received. She was also impressed by the suggestions Sam made for each of her friends' group. Mercedes, after rehearsal, went home feeling very proud of herself and more than a little happy Sam had come into their group. Even without his good looks and happy smile, Mercedes knew that sometime soon, her curiosity about Mr. Evans was likely to become pure romantic interest. And truth be told, she wasn't too bothered by the idea...

Her confusion wasn't something she could attribute to Sam's presence…Mercedes was confused by the meeting demanded by Santana for all Glee girls after school. They'd done this once before, and truthfully speaking…Mercedes was surprised that she'd been invited this time around. Not because she wasn't a full-fledged member of the ND sisterhood, or because she truly believed her friends left her out so often on purpose; but because she hadn't had much to add to the conversation during the one time she _had_ been included. At the time, Rachel was contemplating giving her virginity to Jesse St. James, and wanted advice on the subject from the more experienced members of the group. Outside of asserting out loud that she herself couldn't wait for a boy to pressure her for sex, Mercedes had pretty much remained silent. Whatever issue Santana planned to address couldn't have had much to do with virginity and sex, this go round…because; obviously Santana needed no advice along those lines. But still, Mercedes wondered. As she exited the car and headed for the school door, Mercedes shrugged to herself. She'd find out what was up eventually…

As Mercedes made her way into McKinley, Sam pulled into the teacher parking lot in the two year old pickup truck he'd been given for his sixteenth birthday. He, just like Mercedes, was contemplating the events of the day before and trying to make sense of things. He wore a pair of dark slacks, a nice button-down shirt, and leather bomber jacket in an attempt to look both professional and young. Sam was pleased by his wardrobe, and felt confident that his students would find him unintimidating today. He'd awoken to the feeling of his muscles screaming for relief, because he'd taken Puck and Lauren up on their offer of a late afternoon workout the day before; and the student teacher had slept well, feeling as though he'd made some important inroads towards making long-lasting, very good friends. As far as Sam was concerned, the only thing bad about his current situation was Will Schuester.

Sam hated knowing that his colleague was very likely to undermine what he in his heart knew needed to be done for New Directions. And he had no intention of allowing that to happen. The most frustrating part of Sam's current position was that he could tell the teacher he'd been assigned as a mentor was, at best, lackadaisical. At worst, Sam decided, Will Schuester was guilty of projecting the worst of his own ideals onto a group of impressionable teens. And it didn't sit well with him at all.

Sam knew from experience that the authority granted educators was one that most people respected invariably; people tend to assume that all teachers know what's best…so they don't question them. But Sam Evans had been raised to trust his own instincts. And he knew the changes he planned to institute in Glee would help the team win Nationals. Determination, Sam figured, was key…As long as Mr. Schue was receptive to his efforts, then there was no way he could fail. If he _wasn't_ receptive, though, then Sam would have to get more creative. It was likely that everything would work out in the end…At least, that's what the young man hoped.

Excited to begin his day doing what he loved, Sam entered the building and prepared himself mentally for what was to come. He spent the first five minutes of first and third periods grouping his Spanish classes into thirds…so that the groups could use the first 20 minutes of class going over either pronunciation, verb conjugation, or memory exercises. Afterward, each group switched review topics. By the time class ended, Sam had effectively gone back and taught each pupil, everything they should have learned during the first week of the school term. Then when the fourth period bell rang, he made his way to the Glee room.

Mr. Schuester ultimately decided, in part because Emma Pillsbury declined his offer of a Breadstix meal for lunch, to participate in Sam's first formal lesson…as an observer sitting rear of the class. So when Sam called Brittany and Quinn to the front of the class to sing, he did so with more perspective than usual. As a casual observer, Mr. Schue could take notes on Sam's classroom management skills, as well as oversee the fruits of his first assignment. Will Schuester already knew from his Spanish classes that Sam was a gifted educator; fair and more than a little capable of figuring out quickly where his students needed more attention. Will was confident that Sam could definitely bring something of value to his Glee lessons. Even though Will knew there was very little chance that his kids would surprise him with their performances, he also knew they were all extremely talented. Therefore, based how entertaining he found the songs, Will knew he was probably in for a great show.

Quinn nodded to the band, which played typical boyband-style music; compete with thumping baseline, and a fast rhythm for dancing. The tune played by the band was formulaic… nothing that would distract a live audience from vigorously choreographed dance moves, while also masking only so-so vocal skills. Revisiting her days as a Ke$ha-style mock-rapper, Brittany took the first lines.

_**2Gether: The Hardest Part of Breaking Up**_

_Quinn__**, **_**Brittany**_**, Quinn+Brittany, **__**Whole Class**_

**Yeah, 2gether's in the house, put your hands in the air.**

'**Cause we'll make ya bounce, c'mon.**

**Yeah, 2gether's in the house, put your hands in the air**

'**Cause we'll make ya bounce, c'mon.**

After which Quinn stepped in sing the first verse.

_It's been so long since I've seen your face,_

_So long since I've been to first base…_

Quinn pulled her hair into a ponytail and fanned herself momentarily, a'la Santana in a "wanky" moment, while Brittany supplied a hearty "**Strike three…you're out**." The rest of the class all smiled as they recognized the tune their blonde classmates had chosen.

_I really miss, the feel of your kiss…_

Quinn allowed Britt to wrap arms around her seductively, to which the boys catcalled and yelped loudly. Then she playfully used her hips to thrust the taller blonde away from her and sang,

_But can I have back my things, before I get really pissed?_

Brittany sang the next lines with a lovelorn expression on her face, which the class found as comical as the words.

**You had my heart, my soul, my attention…**

**But you walked out of my life with my CD collection!**

Quinn answered her in mock anger, gesturing wildly.

_We're breaking up!_

The girls sang the next lines in tandem; performing complicated choreography while simultaneously making fun of the song.

_**Breaking up is hard enough…**_

_**Oh, Oh, Oh…**_

_**Say you had nothing but I called your bluff.**_

_**You got my sweaters, my hat…**_

Brittany sang the next line by herself, causing the entire room to shriek in amusement…

**I can't find my cat…**

_**The hardest part of breaking up,**_

_**Is getting back your stuff…**_

Then Quinn put on a fake-rapper's voice in order to perform the bridge. She pantomimed "gang signs" and squatted in a manner so as to suggest she was having a really hard time accepting her fate. The class laughed uproariously at the sight…their own resident Barbie Doll, making like Marky Mark? It was hilarious and fun for everyone who witnessed the spectacle.

_Man, you ever break up with a girl and she keeps your stuff?_

Quinn asked the room in all seriousness.

_Man, what's up with dat?_

Rolling her neck, Quinn addressed Mr. Schue specifically, who was so busy cracking up he couldn't even engage and play along.

_I dunno man, something wrong…you know what I'm saying?_

She turned to Sam, who was also laughing, but managed to shrug and answer Quinn's question with a shake of his head.

"_Something wrong with dat!"_

Quinn finished, and Brittany immediately began rapping.

**Yeah, uh Mickey Parke up in this mug**

**Here we go one two; yeah, yeah, yeah…**

Brittany also did a great job of pretending to be a serious rapper; making sure to pop and lock while reciting the humorous song lyrics

**You plus me, it doesn't equal us; you took my car now I gotta take the bus…**

By this time certain members of the class were giggling uncontrollably and others were falling onto the floor.

**I thought I had a girl I could trust, I guess I never knew my calculus.**

Every person in the room had seen "2Gether…The Movie" as a pre-teen, and collectively found the performance hilarious. So when the duo sang the final verse together, everyone else chimed in.

_**Breaking up is hard enough**_

_**Oh, Oh,Oh…**_

_**Say you had nothing but I called your bluff**_

_**You got my sweaters, my hat…**_

Again, everyone allowed Brittany to take the next lyric; in honor of Lord Tubbington.

**I can't find my cat…**

Which gave the rest of the choir just enough time to laugh uproariously once more before chiming in for the final lines.

_**The hardest part of breaking up,**_

_**Is getting back your stuff…**_

As Quinn vocalized the finale, everyone in the room stood up to offer appreciation. Mr. Schuester was the first to comment.

"Wow!" He said, shaking his head. "That was great you two! Just amazing…" He turned to Quinn first, "Usually, your song choices read like a Lilith Fair lineup, Quinn. To be honest, I'd started to worry a little about it…"

Mr. Schuester took a second to ponder why he hadn't yet addressed the potentially serious issue, but he shook the notion off quickly.

"…and I'm so proud to see you branching out and being more diverse. You seemed to have had a good time just now, and it was really fun watching you and Brittany throw yourselves into these roles. And Brittany?" Schuester faced the other blonde "Your vocals were surprisingly great! Almost as good as your dancing. You guys are awesome actors; this performance was definitely a pleasant surprise!

Quinn responded with a beaming smile. "Thank you Mr. Schue. It was all Sam's idea…"

Mr. Schue nodded importantly. He'd known Sam was a great addition to the group all along…

"…He advised Brittany and I to try a song by a boy band," Quinn continued. "When I suggested to Brittany that we do one by the boy band that was formed to make fun of boy bands, she agreed."

Quinn offered a sheepish smile to her partner, who was also beaming. "Although I don't think Brittany really understands the irony here."

"No, I don't…" Britt supplied happily. "…I just love 2gether! This was fun…Thanks Sam!"

"Yeah, Sam…" Quinn agreed. "It was a great suggestion. Thanks for the compliment too, Mr. Schue."

They sat down, Sam grinned, and then called Tina and Lauren to the front of the room.

Tina and Zizes gathered and handed sheet music to all the Jazz Band members. Then they each grabbed a cordless mike and waited for the opening bars.

**Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Give It Away**

_Tina,_ **Lauren,** _**Tina+Lauren**__,_ _**Whole Class**_

**What I got you got to give it to your mamma**

_What I got you got to give it to your pappa_

**What I got you got to give it to your daughter**

_**You do a little dance and then you drink a little water…**_

Tina and Lauren alternated lines, each chiming in on the fourth line of each stanza. Both girls loved the song they'd chosen, so they enjoyed themselves immensely; each gesturing comically, thumping their chests, and dancing enthusiastically.

_What I got you got to get it put it in you_

**What I got you got to get it put it in you**

_What I got you got to get it put it in you_

_**Reeling with the feeling don't stop continue…**_

The girls yelled the next lines out as a duo, having taken time the afternoon before to practice harmonizing their screams…with Lauren taking the lower register and Tina the higher.

_**Realize I don't wanna be a miser**_

_**Confide with sly you'll be the wiser**_

_**Young blood is the loving upriser**_

_**How come everybody wanna keep it like the Kaiser?**_

For the chorus, the duo went in for a full bout of enthusiastic head-banging while singing. Which most of the class joined in on from their seats. Hair was flying everywhere…

_**Give it away give it away give it away now**_

_**Give it away give it away give it away now**_

_**Give it away give it away give it away now**_

_**I can't tell if I'm a kingpin or a pauper...**_

Despite the controversial lyrics, Sam was already impressed by the partners' performance. They played off one another's' moves and lines effortlessly, and obviously enjoyed the spotlight. Sam decided that the dynamic between Lauren and Tina was something he definitely wanted to see more of.

**Greedy little people in a sea of distress**

_Keep your more to receive or your less_

**Unimpressed by material excess…**

_**Love is free, love me say**_ _**HELL YES!**_

By this time the class was heavily involved in supporting Tina and Zizes. Puck sat in his seat, awestruck by the spectacle for quite some time, before finally raising his fore-and pinky fingers in the universal symbol for "rock on!" Finn and Kurt both stayed seated in order to take turns wailing on the imaginary drums…but the rest of the class joined the pair on the floor to jump around and dance. Sam, himself felt the urge to show off his air-guitar skills.

_I'm low brow but I rock a little know how_

**No time for the piggies or the hoosegow**

_Get smart get down with the pow-wow_

_**Never been a better time than right now…**_

Again, the pair sang the whole next verse in tandem; determined to rock it out for all the class to see. Lauren hopped while spinning around in an energetic circle, Tina dropped down to all fours and shook her head around like the girl on the hood of the car in that Whitesnake video. The rest of the class continued to head-bang and body-slam.

_**Bob Marley, poet and a prophet**_

_**Bob Marley, taught me how to off it**_

_**Bob Marley, walking like he talk it**_

_**Goodness me, cant you see I'm gonna cough it?**_

The entire group chimed in on the last round of the chorus, and the classroom took on the resemblance of a mosh pit, rather than a choir rehearsal space.

_**Give it away give it away give it away now**_

_**Give it away give it away give it away now**_

_**Give it away give it away give it away now**_

_**I can't tell if I'm a kingpin or a pauper.**_

When the song ended, Lauren screamed confidently into her mike, "How you like me now fools?" Of course, her boyfriend was the first to respond.

"Well, I still have my Anthony Kiedis wig from when we did that hairography number…" Puck spoke, stepping down from the risers and coming to stand next to his girlfriend at last. "…so ask me that question later on; after we play us a game of 'long-hair-don't-care' at my house tonight." He wiggled his eyebrows while Zizes breathed heavily and tried unsuccessfully to hide her giggles. "But aside from all that, Baby, you just showed your sexy ass! And you have no idea the things I'm gonna do to you later on…" He nuzzled into her neck as the class broke into laughter, finally returning to their seats. Only Sam, the duo, and Puck remained standing.

"Ew!" Rachel cut in. "I don't want to hear anymore…Please!"

"I agree," Sam added. "I don't even know what that means, and I'm a little wary. Any other thoughts?"

"I think that was amazing!" Schuester exclaimed, clapping. "I used to love that song in high school! And you two did it up right…But let me ask you two something, though…" he stepped down and came to stand next to Sam. "…Why was this, the most animated I've ever seen either of you perform during a number? Tina, you and Lauren almost never get into a song like you just did there together…so what do you think it was about this particular selection that inspired such a change?

"Oh, I don't know…maybe that's just what happens when somebody lets us sing the songs we like," Puck answered snarkily. "And don't look so surprised, either; my girl's got major stage presence _and _talent. Don't go acting like you don't know!" He muttered the next part of his response in a slightly more hushed tone; one that was still loud enough for Will to make out his words with no problem. _"Schuester betta recognize…"_ The teacher chose to ignore Puck's statement.

"It was Sam," Tina, also breathing heavily, supplied the answer to Mr. Schuester's question while Puck resumed flirting with Lauren inappropriately. "He asked us a few questions about things we'd sung, and things we one day hoped to sing; he got us both excited, I guess."

"Yeah, Mr. Schue," chimed in Lauren, as she tried valiantly to stop Puck from humping her leg. "We wanted the class to see that we could bring just like everybody else, so we didn't hold back… It was fun. The only hard part was choosing which lyrics we'd sing…the whole song is great, and there're like, nine verses to choose from."

"Well, I totally agree with Puck," Schue continued, not realizing how inappropriately those words might have come across. "It was great! I guess you were right, Sam…letting the kids have a crack at singing their favorite type of music brings out the best in them. I stand totally corrected; this was a great assignment." He clapped Sam's shoulder, before returning to his seat.

Sam, who was blushing slightly, replied with, "Thanks, Mr. Schue…" He felt bashful, but also completely validated as an educator. He looked forward to impressing Mr. Schuester even more. "…Mike? Artie? You two are up next…"

"Sam, Mr. Schue…" Artie began. "…Mike and I –much like Quinn and Britt- came up with a little bit of choreo for our number, and wondered if you minded us bringing Tina and Mercedes up here for us to sing to. A focal point if you will…"

"I have no objection to that," Sam answered. Even though he found Artie's question slightly confusing. Because wasn't Brittany…

"Isn't Brittany your girlfriend, Artie?" Mr. Schue cut in. He had no qualms about dragging any possible couple drama into the lesson. Truth be told, their teacher looked forward to the days when his students' personal lives blew up during class time. It gave him something to do. "Did you guys break up or something?"

Artie, who didn't particularly care for the idea of his teacher knowing the details of he and Brittany's recent issues just yet, replied with, "I just thought it would be nice to sing to somebody who knows the song…you know, just in case the spirit moves 'Cedes to join in or something. You mind, Mercedes?"

The girl knew there was some gossip brewing, because Artie usually asked for her help in advance…obviously he and Brittany were having problems that hadn't been there the day before. However, Mercedes also knew that Sam wasn't like Mr. Schuester; he didn't care to have class time wasted by dwelling on various love snafus...so she stood, took a bow and came down to stand in front of Artie. Mike, who'd been joined by Tina, nodded to the band and the music started as Artie approximated a pretty good beat-box noise with his lips.

**Mario:Just A Friend 2002**

**Mike**, _Artie_, _**Mike+Artie**_, _**Wbole Class**_

_I wanna know your name and, I wanna know if you gotta man_

**I wanna know…**

Mike sang the last three words in the background, which shocked most of the class. Artie ignored the surprised faces of his classmates, and simply beckoned for Mercedes' hand, and then proceeded to croon in her direction. Tina and Mike started to perform a vigorous and obviously planned two-step in the background.

_I wanna know everything,_

_I wanna know your number and if I can come over and…_

Mercedes swayed her hips as Artie sang, smiling into his face while the class started to clap.

_I wanna know whatcha like_

_I wanna know, so I can do it all night…_

Mercedes shimmied as Artie flirted playfully and got into the lyrics more. Mr. Schue, along with the rest of the class, bopped their heads and laughed.

_Butcha telling me I'm just a friend,_

_Telling me I'm just a friend…_

At this point Mr. Schue expected for the boys to veer off into Biz Markie-land, knowing that Mike wouldn't be as comfortable with singing the lyrics as soulfully as Artie could. But he was surprised…Mike's voice was melodic and proud as he sang the words while Artie provided the adlibs in the background.

_**Oh Baby you...**_

_(Oh, Baby you…)_

_**You got what I need…**_

_(Got what I need…)_

_**But you say I'm just a friend**_

_(Say I'm just a friend…)_

_**But you say I'm just a friend…**_

_(Whoa, whoa…)_

Mr. Schuester wasn't the only person in the room surprised Mike's mastery of the simple notes, however…more than one member of the class had also assumed the tall Asian was –for all intents and purposes- tone deaf. But he ignored the expressions on his friend's faces and enjoyed the moment. Tina giggled loudly as Mike twirled her around, while Artie and Mercedes did a modified version of the same move. Mercedes did manage to take a second to peer over her own shoulder and shoot Mike an appreciative glance, though. The duo continued to sing.

_**Cuz I can be your…**_

_(I can be)_

_**Fantasy…**_

_(Fantasy, girl)_

_**But you say I'm just a friend**_

_**But you say I'm just a friend…**_

By this time both couples were throwing themselves into the performance. Mercedes danced a sexy dance in Artie's direction before sitting in his lap and pretending to be bashful and flattered while he sang into her ear playfully… which filled Sam with fear and horror. Tina wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's waist from behind as he grinned and body-rolled; then pretended to swoon as Mike and his partner traded off the lyrics of the bridge…

**Give me one reason why, you wouldn't want this type of guy**

_Cuz I stay dipped I stay laced, and I know you know I'm fly…_

**Girl stop playing games with me, lets get it on tonight**

_You got nothing to lose; let me do, what I do. Baby you…_

This time the entire class chimed in on the chorus; most of the group loved Mario, and they'd known all the lyrics to this song since elementary school…

_**Oh Baby you...**_

_(Oh, Baby you…)_

_**You got what I need…**_

_(Got what I need…)_

_**But you say I'm just a friend**_

_(Say I'm just a friend…)_

_**But you say I'm just a friend…**_

_(Whoa, whoa…)_

Artie and Mike had agreed to sing the final bridge tag-team style as well; with Mike singing first and Artie chiming in on the more difficult vocal runs…As they sang, the boys made sure to include the chosen girls even more; Mike disentangled himself from his girlfriend's arms, stepping behind her to entrap Tina with his own embrace as he swayed from side to side rhythmically. A happily seated Artie twirled Mercedes around in a circle on his lap.

**You can call me anytime you like,**

_(Oh anytime…)_

**Doesn't matter day or night,**

_(Said it doesn't matter…)_

**We can do whatever you…**

_(Oh whoa whoa whoa whoa)_

**Wanna do its up to you.**

**Don't fight the feeling that you feel,**

_(Don't fight the feeling…)_

**I can tell that it's real,**

_(Ho girl)_

**So won't you help me understand…**

_( But you say I'm just a…)_

**Why you say I'm just a**

_(But you say I'm just a…FRIEND…)_

Artie made sure to make a big splash with the final glory note, which Mercedes was more than happy to help him hit. Mike took the opportunity to impress the class with his famous spin-twirl move, while Tina pretended to fan her boyfriend. As the class clapped enthusiastically, Sam took note of his mentor's reaction, and shrewdly figured Will Schuester's brief period of hearty congratulation was just about over.

"So guys…" the teacher seemed confused. "…what happened here?" He was talking to Mike and Artie, but Sam paid attention, as did the rest of the class. "I mean, when I heard what song you two were gonna sing I would have bet money that you'd mash it up with the Biz Markie version; you know…so Mike could rap and be on equal footing with Artie? Just like Tina and Lauren did…"

No one nodded or agreed with Will; however, he continued to talk.

"So why such a huge departure? There was no reason to change what works…Did you guys not realize that the Mario version was a remake?" Schuester shook his head in a frustrated manner.

"We knew…" Artie glared at Schuester for commenting on Mikes supposed vocal limitations, even though he himself had been guilty of the same thing just the day before. "…but Sam advised us to play around with it. Said we could do a true hip-hop song complete with rap as long as Mike took a part in helping me sing the chorus…and he was right."

He nodded in Sam's direction.

"I mean, what if somethinga happens one day that keeps some of the rest of us from singing in a competition?" Artie continued. "Like, what if Rachel gets suspended and I get sick or Finn breaks his leg trying to dance? The way things are now, Mike won't ever be ready to step in if that happens. And he deserves a chance to try!"

Sam nodded in agreement.

"Plus," Artie went on, "my boy showed his Asian ass yesterday in rehearsals. So after we tried a few things out, we decided to just go for it." Mike offered Artie some dap, which he was happy to return. Then Artie turned to Sam, "Don't _you_ think Mike did the damn thing?"

"For sure!" Sam agreed, praying silently that Schuester would let the line of questioning go. At this point he could only make the situation more awkward by considering to beat the dead horse. He attempted to hint. "And Mr. Schuester thinks so too! Right…Will?"

Will shook himself violently from the reverie he'd fallen into, and realized he'd been fairly negative in his assessment of Mike's performance. "Of course, Sam." Will didn't particularly care for Sam's insinuation that he was making the situation uncomfortable, but he could admit to himself that he probably had. So he attempted to make up for it by back-tracking. "I guess I just had no clue Mike could sing so well; for some reason I tend to see you more of a dancer…" he shrugged in Mike's direction. "Now I know better. But still…your moves are still the best. Great dancing, man; and thanks for all the hard work... You too, Artie!"

"Yeah, dudes…great job." Sam added. "The rest of these guys better watch out for you two!"

If Mr. Schue didn't like the idea of someone else taking solos from his chosen favorite singers, he definitely kept the news to himself; and rather than deny the boy's talent again, the teacher nodded. Mike beamed and sat down next to Tina.

"For the next performance, I've been asked to sit in on drums." Sam told the group. "Can I…" He gestured to the Jazz Band member sitting at the drum kit, who good-naturedly gave up his seat. "Finn and Puck planned some kind of 'duelin' axes' thing here, and they want whoever is on drums to chime in on vocals some. So sorry in advance if I don't measure up…" Sam chuckled. He already knew his voice would mesh well with the Glee boys' voices. But he never _could_ resist the odd corny joke.

"I'm sure you'll rock the house, Sam…" Mercedes said without thinking. The rest of the class looked at her curiously, and Sam nodded his thanks. A moment later Puck yelled the title of the song, as Finn stretched his fingers and prepared to play the guitar; something he'd never done in class before…

**KISS: God Gave Rock And Roll To You**

_Finn_, **Puck,** _**Finn+Puck,**_ _**Whole Class**_

**God Gave Rock And Roll To You…**

Sam chimed in on the drums, playing the opening beats while bouncing in his seat slightly.

_**God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you**_

_**Put it in the sou-oul of everyone...**_

Finn quickly acclimated to playing the guitar in front of his friends, and was so happy to be doing a good job that the delight showed all over his features. Quinn nodded to him in encouragement, and most of the class shot him a thumbs up in the spirit of solidarity.

_Do you know what you want?_ **You don't know for sure**

_You don't feel right_, **you can't find a cure…**

_**And you're getting less than what you're looking for.**_

Guitar chords screaming…

You don't have money **or a fancy car**

And you're tired of wishin' **on a falling car**

_**You gotta put your faith in a loud guitar**_

_**Ohhhhh…**_

Sam made sure to chime in on the chorus, screaming the lyrics in tandem with the two other boys. He caught Mercedes looking at him incredulously and momentarily felt extremely self-satisfied. He smirked; had Mercedes listened for and caught the sound of his voice? Was she pleased by what she'd heard? It appeared to be the case…

_**God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you**_

_**Gave rock and roll to everyone (oh yeah)...**_

_**God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you**_

_**Put it in the sou-oul of everyone.**_

During the instrumental break, in which Sam played like his life depended on it and his KISS-mates positively shredded; the class responded by raising lighters (Santana and Tina), offering wolf whistles (Mike and Zizes) or stomping their feet (everyone else). The spectators all clapped together, above their heads and loudly. Only Mr. Schuester remained untouched by the spectacle. Puck and Finn let their guitars hang during the bridge, and Sam tapped lightly on the cymbals in the background. The duo had practiced changing tactics slightly and singing these words more harmoniously. Still loudly, of course…but they definitely took pains to recite them in a much more melodic manner than they had the rest of the song. Sam was impressed, and grateful to the boys for having worked so hard on their selection.

_God gave rock and roll to you_ **(to everyone he gave the song to be sung)**

_Gave rock and roll to you ,_ _**gave rock and roll to everyone**_

_God gave rock and roll to you_ **(to everyone he gave the song to be sung)**

_Gave rock and roll to you,_ _**saved rock and roll for everyone**_

_**Saved rock and roll**_

As Puck and Finn repeated the chorus at the end, the entire class chimed in, still clapping loudly. The boys resumed playing their instruments, and everyone completely rocked it out. Once again, Mr. Schuester was the only person in the room unmoved by the performance. Sam noticed however he was way too busy doing his part to dwell on it in that exact moment.

_**God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you**_

_**Gave rock and roll to everyone (oh yeah)**_

_**God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you**_

_**Put it in the sou-oul of everyone.**_

Mr. Schuester, quite frankly, had been a little offended that his protégé, Finn hadn't chosen a song by one of his own all-time favorites; hence his silence and utter lack of animation. And he made his disappointment known before anyone else was able to congratulate the pair. "And here I was, all set to enjoy a great Journey or Eagles song….But I suppose this was you and Puck's way of avoiding an argument." Mr. Schue shrugged his shoulders, eventually, in acceptance. "Much as I would have liked that, I'm glad you two embraced the spirit of compromise." Now that he thought about it, Will was actually proud of Finn for being the bigger man...

"No, Mr. Schue…" Finn spoke first. "…It wasn't like that. Sam helped us stop arguing about it before we even left rehearsal yesterday. Even gave us a few ideas for how to pick a song we both like, so each of us would have some say or whatever. But this song was actually my idea…I always liked this one, 'cause it makes me feel good to sing it. Why, didn't you like it, Mr. Schue?" Finn seemed worried.

"Mr. Schuester didn't mean that…" Sam cut in. He could tell that Finn would be much more hurt than Mike had been by any negativity from Will, and he wanted to spare the tall teen any discomfort if he could. The relationship between the two seemed, in Sam's opinion, to be some sort of weird father-son/best friend hybrid that went far beyond the bounds of simple mentor/mentee. However inappropriate it was, Sam had no desire to jeopardize it. The closeness the man shared with Finn, was obviously something they both enjoyed and wanted to preserve. To that end, Sam valiantly hoped Will would compliment Finn, and quickly. "…He was just surprised. That was the whole point, remember?"

Finn grinned and turned to face Will.

"Sam's right…" Will caught on this time sooner than he had with Mike. "I really liked it. What about the rest of you? Any thoughts?"

"They just showed the hell out!" Lauren laughed. "I sweated my ass off clapping, even though I was still tired from my own performance…"

"Yeah, Finn and Puck should sing together more often!" Britt chimed in. "They rock…"

"I agree…" Sam added. "…biased though I may be; I mean, the drummin' _was _especially excellent." The group chuckled. "And Mr. Schue makes a valid point. There was a true spirit of compromise evoked with every single note here, and it came across in the finished product. Great job, Puck, Finn…" He turned to Kurt. "Are you and Rachel ready?"

"Of course," Rachel answered for Kurt, then handed sheet music to Brad, who chuckled before playing the gospel-style selection. Unsurprisingly, Rachel was the first to sing.

**Urinetown: The Musical**

**I See A River**

_Rachel,_ **Kurt,** _**Rachel+Kurt,**_ _**Whole Class**_

_Hope!_

After the one word was spoken, Kurt began singing the first verse, as soulfully as he possibly could. While he didn't have the chops of someone who regularly attended Sunday church service, he definitely did a passable job…actually, his rendition was better than passable; because what Kurt lacked in comfort with the material, he made up for in attitude.

**I see a river flowing for freedom,**

**I see a river just in view,**

**I see a river flowing for freedom,**

**I see a river straight and true…**

Rachel's verse was slightly faster, and far less hymn-like. Therefore she sang it quite well; and the class as a whole enjoyed both the humorous words as well as the pleasant sound of her voice…generic though it may have been.

_Come to the river flowing for justice,_

_Come to the river rendezvous,_

_Come to the river flowing for justice,_

_All for the people, me and you…_

Kurt spoke the dialogue that came next, his rendition of Urinetown's Officer Lockstock's monologue…

**Well, as you guessed,,. Hope took over her father's business, instituting a series of reforms which opened the public bathrooms to all the people; to pee for free whenever they liked, as much as they liked, for as long as they liked...**

The class laughed uproariously, as Kurt continued.

**The UGC was renamed, "The Bobby Strong Memorial Toilet Authority," and was operated as a public trust for the benefit of the people…**

Rachel sang the next part, running from one corner of the performance space to the other rapidly, in order to illustrate that she was singing both Little Becky Two Shoes' as well as Hope's parts.

_Sisters and brothers, fight for the river,_

_Fathers and mothers,_

_Babies, too!_

She was a little disappointed that the two aforementioned characters' voices melded for the second portion of the verse, because it had always been Rachel's dream to play two different roles onstage at the same time. She enjoyed having had the chance to do so. True to fashion though, Rachel rallied; standing in one spot, the girl belted the next lines with all her might.

_All in the family, push toward the river,_

_Shove toward the river, why don't you?_

By that time the rest of the class had caught onto the spirit, if not the actual words, of the song well enough to add their voices to the chorus. Laughingly, the New Directions sang a Broadway number together, that everyone could sink his or her teeth into.

_**Step in the river, wade in the river,**_

_**Soak in the river through and through.**_

_**Once in the river, you are the river,**_

_**Friends on the shoreline, jump in too…**_

Rachel had looked forward to the big finale; therefore, for a second she was disappointed because the class rose and began to clap instead of allowing her to speak Little Sally's monologue. However, the sound of heartfelt applause proved to quite enough mend her hurt feelings. She and Kurt reveled in it, and fairly vibrated with giddiness.

Before Sam even had a chance to congratulate the happy pair, Will stood up once more, hands on his hips and the eye of judgment clouding his features.

"Alright I'm gonna just say it,' he started, "I don't think that was appropriate. You two were given the assignment of choosing a great show tune; and you chose the final number from a play about pee?" He shook his curly head incredulously. "I mean, come on…What could a musical about a bodily function possibly have to do with what we're trying to learn here?"

"Mr. Schuester, if I may…" Kurt faced their teacher. "…'Urinetown' isn't just a play about pee. It's actually a witty satirical commentary on the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate management, and various municipal policies. It also happens to parody musicals like "Les Miserables," and the contemporary Broadway musical itself as an art form. Given the economic climate in this country right now, I can't for the life of me see how a song from this play is any less relevant to our lives than some of what we sing in class. We rehearsed "Rocky Horror," with every intention of staging the play; and as far as I can see, that particular 'work of art' exists primarily as an excuse for people to fetishize drag artists and wear freaky wigs."

Mr. Schue, who kneew he'd only suggested 'Rocky Horror' in order to woo Miss Pillsbury, quickly retreated from that line of conversation. "I'm not saying the song wasn't good. You guys sang it surprisingly well, considering that it wasn't in your wheelhouse…"

"_Wheelhouses_, actually…" Sam interrupted. It was pretty apparent Will Schuester automatically assumed that both singers preferred to sing the same type of music consistently, as if Kurt and Rachel shared a brain. It was dangerous territory, because there was always the chance that one or the other had interests in direct opposition to Schuester's assumptions. Sam could see this type of thing becoming problematic at some point, and decided to address it sooner rather than later. "They don't have the exact same range, and I suspect that Kurt and Rachel have differing tastes in music here and there," he said simply.

"True," Will amended. "But anyway, I suppose I was just looking forward to enjoying a rousing Judy Garland number, or something somber and meaningful from Liza. You two did such a great job on…"

"While I have to agree with you on the very fine point you were about to make there, Mr. Schuester," Rachel began. "The fact that you expected us to perform a traditional Broadway hit, tells me that Sam was correct. Kurt and I cannot afford to become one-trick ponies, because there's always a chance that casting directors we meet later on in life will expect us to be capable of doing other things. I mean, who knows?" she continued. "Whether or not I'm ever chosen to play Belle onstage, could conceivably depend on whether or not I can comfortably portray Aida also. And she's African. Therefore it makes sense that my bestie and I practice playing around with different styles, as much as we can now. Also, performing this particular number gave Kurt and I a chance to hone our acting skills; and as you know, acting opportunities are few and far between here at McKinley." She sat primly, having had what she perceived as the last say.

Mr. Schuester looked as though the planned to argue more, but satisfied himself by simply questioning, "Did you pick the song, Rachel?" Will raised his eyebrows. "Because it sounded a lot like a gospel selection, and not exactly something I expected to see from either you or your partner." He turned to Kurt. "Kurt, I was under the impression that you didn't care for songs of a religious nature; I mean, you got mad at Mercedes because she sang one by Whitney Houston…"

"And you know you was wrong for that shit…" Artie pointed out. "…Whitney is your life!"

"I _was _wrong," Kurt admitted. "The song Mercedes sang to me that day was beautiful and powerful, and I took it out of context on purpose. I deliberately pretended to believe my good friend was attempting to convert me, when in actuality she was attempting to comfort me and provide me with some solace. I was frustrated at the time, and took out all of my harsh feelings out on her." He turned to Mercedes. "Will you ever forgive me?" Mercedes nodded and accepted the apology, after which Kurt moved quickly to give her a hug. A hug she was more than happy to accept enthusiastically. "And to be honest, I can admit to feeling much better after having visited Mercedes' church. I suppose I could have picked up the gospel bug there…" Kurt laughed. "Because it was _I_ who suggested the number to _Rachel_…not the other way around!"

"Well," Sam interrupted, before Will could say anything else unhelpful. "Now I _know_ I have to visit Mercedes' church sometime…" he shot a look her way, which she smiled in response to.

"First Homo, now Big Mouth?" Santana snarked. "Damn, Re-Re…you betta watch out! If you take Evans to church with you, the whole Sista-Church-Hat crew'll start thinking your ass is running some kinda White boy harem!"

Mercedes turned around to joke, "Well, what if I am?" before facing front again and waiting for Sam to finish his thought.

Instead of offering himself up as head harem boy like he wanted to, Sam continued to praise the class. "…Aside from that, I'm really glad that y'all are enjoyin' the lesson." He peered at each student in turn, most of who nodded. "Because the more time we spend workin' on how we approach song selection; the better off we as a group will be. So even though some of the things we're experimentin' with right now are kinda shockin', everybody is learnin'…right?" He waited for the cleavage in Will's chin to dip slightly in a reluctant and half-hearted nod before going on. "Great! So, without belaborin' any issues here, let's go on and finish up. Everybody, the act you've all been waitin' on…"

Cue an incredibly incredulous look, shared between Rachel and Schuester.

"Mercedes and Santana, take it away…"

The girls met in the front of the classroom, and for the first time the class noticed that they'd worn the same dress for the performance. Most of them were surprised The dress itself was silver, and slinky...cut short, in a thigh-skimming, empire-waisted style that flattered both girls. They wore their hair pulled back on top, and sported Snooki-esque poofs in front; their back hair was curled softly in waves that bounced jauntily as they moved. Both Mercedes and Santana wore the same pair of silver peep-toe high heels, and they'd even each taken the time to polish their nails using the same navy blue polish…

Sam was shocked as well, although he was mostly taken aback by how differently the two girls wore the ensemble. On Santana, who was slight and petite, the dress looked innocent...almost like something a baby doll would wear. She filled out the low neckline valiantly, that couldn't be denied; but the dress's yards of billowy fabric below seemed to swallow her right up. The dress –pretty though it may have been- wore the feisty Latina, as opposed to the other way around.

On Mercedes, however, the dress looked far less innocent. Far less everything, in fact; Sam had never seen the girl wear anything short, nor was he used to the vision of Mercedes in something sleeveless and low-cut. The dip of her cleavage, the way the material flowed over her curves, the achingly scant hemline…all of this called to Sam's mind a teddy he'd seen once in a department store as a child. As far as Sam was concerned, Mercedes looked like a lingerie model, or a woman showing off her naughty bits for the man she'd purchased them for. He shook the thought quickly, because this wasn't the place at all to satisfy his urge to imagine the girl in various states of undress. So as she handed their group's sheet music to Brad, Sam stole one last glimpse before concentrating on the both partners equally. Santana sang the first lines.

**Adele:Make You Feel My Love**

**Mercedes,** _Santana_, _**Mercedes+Santana,**_

_When the rain is blowing in your face,_

_And the world is on your case,_

_I could offer you a warm embrace,_

_To make you feel my love…_

Santana's voice was gravelly, not unlike Adele's, and strong. She put all her heart and soul into singing the lyrics into the microphone and projected her feelings, not only to Brittany, but the room at large; clutching her fingers into a tight fist and closing her eyes.

**When the evening shadows and the stars appear,**

**And there is no one there to dry your tears,**

**I could hold you for a million years,**

**To make you feel my love.**

It must be said here that Mercedes had much more control over her own voice because it wavered less with emotion…possibly because she lacked what Santana had; the inspiration of recent heartbreak. However, she made up for that with pure talent. The tone of her lovely voice resonated in the room, causing just about every single person there to close their eyes as well. The ladies traded off the lyrics of the next two verses, and sang them to one another.

**I know you haven't made your mind up yet,**

_But I would never do you wrong._

**I've known it from the moment that we met,**

_No doubt in my mind where you belong_

Mercedes, Sam was beginning to realize, was excellent at manipulating musical pieces to fit her voice; and he was almost as impressed with that particular skill as he was by her looks. He could see that she had a gift for making the song her own. In places where Adele's voice dropped an octave, Mercedes sometimes chose to go one higher. Where Adele chose a husky delivery, Mercedes' tended to prove sweeter…the end result being that her student teacher found himself even more under her thrall. Sam knew he probably wore a silly lovelorn expression on his face, but could do nothing about it while Mercedes was still singing. The fact was that Sam was proud of himself; after all, he hadn't drooled all over his new shirt yet…

**I'd go hungry; I'd go black and blue,**

_I'd go crawling down the avenue,_

**No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do,**

_To make you feel my love…_

Mercedes and Santana took advantage of the instrumental break to set their microphones down; then the taller girl took Mercedes by the waist, and led her around the choir room floor in a perfectly choreographed Viennese waltz. The rest of the class, most of whom had closed their eyes in order to lose themselves in the singing, opened them just as Santana dipped her partner elegantly; they were able to bear witness as the girls twirled one another around, and performed steps that were complicated enough to make them wonder if the team had been coached by Brittany and Mike. Mercedes and Santana stopped moving just before singing the final verse, but their fingers remained entwined. The duo held hands and belted the last part of the song, so beautifully that several people in the hallway stopped to hear.

_I could make you happy, make your dreams come true_

**Nothing that I wouldn't do**

_Go to the ends of the Earth for you_

**To make you feel my love**

_**To make you feel my love**_

This time, no one chimed in on vocals. The class sat, literally dumbfounded. No one sitting in the classroom -including Sam, Mr. Schuester, even Rachel Berry herself- was capable of delivering the type of heartfelt and vocally accomplished performance that Santana and Mercedes had just done effortlessly. Tears streamed down both Kurt and Tina's cheeks. Boyfriends and girlfriends clasped hands tightly. Brittany involuntarily covered her wildly beating heart. Artie raised a praise hand in silent thanks. Finn and Puck both bit their bottom lips to stifle the words of sincere adoration that threatened to escape. Mike's nose flared as he finally exhaled deeply; he hadn't realized it, but he'd been holding his breath. Lauren clutched at her own throat, as if she was worried that something untoward might come out. Quinn was the first to begin the slow clap…and it gained momentum as nearly everyone chimed in and the applause rang out into McKinley's hallway.

No one said a word for quite some time, and when someone did speak, it was Mr. Schuester who did so. The teacher stubbornly decided that he'd had quite enough, thank you very much. He never stopped to question why he did so, but went on the offensive the moment Santana and Mercedes sang the last note…and tried desperately to stop Sam from publicly lauding the group's vocal skills in front of the class.

"Ladies, I think you may have forgotten that the point of the assignment was for us to begin the song selection process…forgive me, but as lovely as what you just performed was…"

Belatedly, Will remembered that he'd meant to chastise the girls without giving any indication of a compliment.

"…there's no way we can sing something like that at competition. I mean, yes; if we were an all girl group it would be great. But we can't sing a song that has "chick music" written all over it on a National stage. We've always stayed away from Destiny's Child and Sarah McLaughlin-type stuff when competing, because it's feminist music, and the male judges would crucify us!" Will was proud of himself for turning Sam's own assignment against him. His triumph was however, short-lived.

Will, who hadn't realized how visually he'd reacted to Sam's mention of "the performance we've all been waiting for," had no clue that had Sam recognized the horror on his face. He had no clue that Sam had been more than prepared to combat whatever Will said to distract the class from Mercedes' and Santana's beautiful performance. And Will was surprised by how quickly Sam formulated a comeback.

"Actually, Mr. Schue…"

Sam used the name the used in order to align himself with the rest of the class, and it didn't go unnoticed by the curly-haired teacher.

"…the point of the whole thing was so I could find out what everybody likes to sing and see 'em performin' somethin' they chose on their own. See, I haven't had the luxury of bein' in the same class with everybody all year, and there's only so much you can tell from a homemade video…"

Will cast his eyes downward and grimaced.

"…whether or not everybody could sing and how well, was something I was hopin' to find out," Sam continued. "But what saw and heard just now was an extra bonus!"

Sam looked briefly at Santana, who had her arms crossed and her lips pursed. Mercedes was looking intently down at her hands as she worried them in front of herself, not wanting to make eye contact with any in the room. Sam continued.

"Mercedes and Santana just hit notes that I haven't ever heard anybody even _approach_ in real life! Their's was the most vocally challengin' and accomplished performance I've seen today; I gotta say, I'm in complete and total awe!"

Santana and Mercedes both took a moment to search Sam's face for any hint of coddling; and finding none, shared a sweet and victorious smile. Sam kept right on gushing.

"After I'm gone, I hope y'all don't run into any all-girl groups; and if you do I pray they won't throw any Adele at you. Because any group that can do half of what these two can, will send the New Directions completely up a creek!"

Most of the class nodded in agreement.

"They even came up with competition-caliber choreography and costumes!" Sam continued. "This was even better than all those performance videos you gave me…Don't you agree, Mr. Schue?

"Well, I do Sam…" Quinn spoke up. "Even though I don't think it was fair to pair those two up again, I really enjoyed it. If we ever form that all-girls choir, I'm signing up; it won't kill the boys to sway in the background…"

Sam rolled his eyes playfully. He could have guessed she'd feel that way.

"Same here…" Tina added. "Hey, doesn't the official show choir rulebook say something to the effect that, all 12 members don't have to be onstage during all the numbers? So why _couldn't_ we girls put together a group? Sort of like a Glee-within-a-Glee? It could be cute!"

"You're not wrong…" Brittany agreed. "…and it would be fun, too!"

"Yeah, but only if Sexy Mama and Tana lead the crew…" Puck added puckishly. "…Say what you want to about talent or musical styles or whatever; but when was the last time somebody else in here put that much effort into a duet performance? Everybody else with the chops to headline is too damn selfish…would try to turn the shit into a solo with the quickness!"

Sam figured out easily that Puck was referring to Ms. Berry, and agreed; although he refrained from commenting. He was too busy wondering why this was the second time Puck had referred to Mercedes in that manner. It bothered him way more than Rachel's diva-esque ways, to be quite honest.

"Lets maybe have a seat everyone…you too, Sam; and maybe we should table any discussions about future gimmicks for winning judges. I'd like to take some time to talk about what we've learned here today."

The class obeyed; and Sam, who hadn't appreciated being treated like one of the class, took a seat next to Mercedes to console himself.

"Not performance-wise…" Will was more than ready for the class to stop lauding the pair that had just performed, and honestly couldn't figure out why he felt that way. "…Suffice it to say there was something great about every performance today, and I'm glad you all had fun." Even though Schuester mainly called class to order so he could shift focus from Mercedes and Santana's great performance, he also wanted to introduce a new lesson.

For some reason, the older man felt somewhat overshadowed by Sam's God-given teaching skills, as if he –a man who'd been teaching since Sam was in diapers- could possibly have something to learn from a tow-headed youth still wet behind the ears. He wanted to show Sam Evans what real teaching looked like, and he made haste to do so.

"But judging from some of the things I've been hearing around school, I think a bigger issue needs to be addressed here; and I'd be remiss as an educator if I ignored it…"

Schuester shot a brief smirk in Sam's direction before going on.

"I know you guys think of me as a teacher first and foremost; despite how close we've all become over the past two years. And you probably sort of figure that I know very little about your personal lives. But the truth is, that I actually stay pretty informed about all of your guys' drama." Schuester started, leaning against the piano.

That news was completely unsurprising to the class at large…it was common knowledge that McKinley teachers gossiped about the students' lives just as much as the teenage rumor mill; Mr. Schuester more so than most.

Will cast a fierce glance at Sam, authority all over his features, before continuing. "So I know from the MuckRaker that Brittany and Santana had some confusion recently, concerning an unfortunate _Fondue For Two incident…_which is more than likely the root cause of Artie and Brittany no longer performing together."

Will gazed sympathetically to Artie, who shrugged.

"I also happen to know that Quinn was caught recently leaving a seedy motel, after being seen hugging an athletic boy goodbye in the courtyard," he shook his head reproachfully. "And I know the people who caught it on film were Finn and Rachel…" He shot them a thumbs up for being so smart, knowing it was only a matter of time before his two stars found their way back together. "That's a lot going on…Which means that some of these issues could very well fester, and possibly distract the group in the near future."

Some of the class crossed arms in front of themselves stubbornly and avoided their teacher's gaze, others paid curious attention to what he was saying in order to hear the scoop. Sam was the only person in the room who stayed determinedly uninterested in Will's new line of conversation. It wasn't exactly his business, after all…

"So I'd like to step in here –as a concerned educator- and suggest an assignment that addresses these concerns, before they take over and affect our productivity. I've always wanted to assign you guys a classic album for a lesson; let you all choose songs from the same one to perform. I think it would be a great way for me to illustrate to the class that good music is always timeless."

Most of the class members rolled their eyes, but Schuester chose not to see them.

"And with all the problems arising here, I can't think of a better album for the lesson than Fleetwood Mac's _Rumours_. See, just like you guys, the band was having a lot of real issues during the time it was being written… breakups, innuendo, infidelity, etc. But they made a commitment to put all that other stuff aside, and concentrate on making the album their best. In the end it worked. In fact, the whole record is a testament to what a talented group of individuals can accomplish when they ignore the drama and focus on work. I can give you each the weekend and start hearing your renditions starting next Monday. So what do you think, guys? Sound good?"

Will had expected the entire class to embrace his idea, but was met with lukewarm agreement. None of the students made any eye contact with him, and only Finn and Rachel responded verbally.

"How about this, Mr. Schue?" Sam began. He could tell from the moment Will made his suggestion that this was an ill-fated attempt to wrest control of the club from him, and the blond had no intention of allowing that to happen. But he also knew he had to tread lightly. "The lesson is a great idea, and I personally love the plan." Sam nodded enthusiastically. "It's a great album, after all, and totally worth learnin' about. But instead of forcin' the kids to peruse and listen to somethin' that was, quite frankly, created before any of them were born…"

"Yeah, because I don't trust any music that can't be played on a CD player," Tina cut in. "The fact that you two keep calling it an 'album' makes it sound like something you have to line up on a 8-track player or something." Knowing that Sam was on the students' side was having a great effect on how comfortable Tina was becoming with speaking up in class. "…because I'd rather not have to choose a song from a record my parents own, to be perfectly honest."

Before Mr. Schuester could chide the usually quiet girl for bursting his bubble, the remainder of the choir agreed. The teacher looked positively crestfallen.

"Tina." Sam shot her mock grimace that didn't quite make it to his eyes, letting Tina know that her student teacher could very well handle Will's objections on his own, while simultaneously allowing the girl to see that he agreed with the meat of her statement. She smirked and nodded, allowing Sam to proceed without further interruption.

"Anyway, Will," Sam went on, "couldn't we extend the assignment and change things up a little? Give everybody part of next week in addition to the weekend, so they can find two songs to sing? The first one can be from _Rumours_…then each group can be responsible for pickin' a different song -with the same message- that they're a little more familiar with. Maybe we can even utilize the genres we started to explore here today."

"Sam, I don't know…"

"Come on!" Sam pleaded. "Think about it! You're all worried about gossip and bad feeling' distractin' everybody from our work…This is a way of makin' sure each group picks a song that effectively illustrates somethin' they want to sing about, by addin' the element of research. See, this way you know nobody'll just do an eenie meenie miney moe…"

Sam could very well see that Will was attempting to dilute his authority, and felt his addition to the assignment would combat that.

"We can even make sure each group has some positive interaction with the other groups by havin' 'em switch genres. Quinn and Brittany can switch musical styles with Lauren and Tina, and so on and so forth. And we can make it so that each duo can use one other Glee member in their performance if they want to…you know, to sit in on an instrument, or help out with background vocals. It _could_ have a reconciliatory effect on the group…"

Mr. Schuester was loathe to take Sam's suggestion, but could think of no logical reason to turn him down, having already decided that "because I said so" wasn't a valid objection. So he made a few statements about how altercations could be avoided if everyone on the team commits to a common purpose, he wrote the pairings beside their new musical stylings on the whiteboard, and eventually coalesced…very quietly. Will left Sam in the room to field questions, and went to prepare for his fifth-period Spanish 2 class.

After last period that same day, Mercedes met up with Tina and Zizes in the girls' room in order to walk to the choir room together for Santana's curious meeting. She was pleased by her performance earlier in the day, and still very grateful towards Sam for having had her back. The partial reconciliation with Kurt had been nice, too…So when the trio arrived at their destination, she was in uncommonly high spirits. The friends got to the choir room, and they were greeted to a surprise. Santana had moved –or rather, gotten Karofsky to move- a square table into the room and arranged two chairs on each of the four sides. Quinn and Santana sat together on the right side of the table, with Brittany sitting next to an empty chair directly across from them. Rachel was seated alone facing the door. Mercedes and Tina took seats together in the chairs directly across from Rachel, while Lauren pointed questioningly to the empty seat beside Brittany. After the blonde nodded and gave permission, Lauren sat and Santana began to talk.

"Okay, heifers…" the busty brunette started, pleased that everyone had finally arrived. "…listen the hell up. I invited all your asses here this afternoon so we "ladies…" Santana rolled her eyes and employed the use of finger quotes while speaking the word. "…could discuss something real serious. See, there's some unsaid shit going on in this piece that needs to be put all out in the open; some shit I'm sure e'er-body up in here is already thinking about. So lets get it on!" she clapped her hands enthusiastically. "We _needs_ to talk about Carp Lips…"

"Sam?" Tina asked, suspiciously eyeing the caustic instigator in the seat to her immediate right. "What do you mean, we need to talk about Sam?"

"Oh, don't you act all brand new, Ching-Ching…" Santana answered with attitude. "…You know what's up. That cat may be a baby teacher or whatever the hell his new job title is; but he's a New Direction now, just like all the rest of our boys. So you _already know_ he gon' wind up hooking up with one of us girls eventually. And today we're gonna figure out which one…" She placed her hand on her hip and rolled her neck fiercely. "That way nobody ends up with black eye for stepping on another bitch's toes!"

"But all of us have boyfriends, Lopez_…"_ Lauren started. "Except, or course, for Berry and the always fierce Ms. Jones…" she offered her former client a fist bump, which the diva smiled and accepted."…so if either of them wants to get up on Sam, that's their business; not yours." Lauren narrowed her eyes at Santana from across the table. "So why host a big-ass pow-wow to talk about it?" She asked the rest of the young women around the table, "You wanna know what I think? This Cheeri-ho is nosy as all hell!"

Santana flipped Lauren off before responding. "What the hell does having a boyfriend already have to do with any of this? So what? I'm supposed to put off looking for my next boy-toy just because I ain't fired Mr. Right Now as of yet? Fuck that…" she shrugged unconcernedly. "…'cause I can dump Karofsky anytime I get ready to, Large Marge; and I may or may not even tell his ass beforehand. Shit, if I come to school and he sees me all up on Guppy's froggy mouth in the hall, then the fatty-boy'll figure that shit out anyway. Besides, Karofsky's a stingy-dick motherfucker; and he has issues with letting me go below the belt. This bitch needs a dude who'll put out…"

"What makes you think Sam would date you?" Rachel looked scandalized as she snapped her head to the left. "You've done nothing but insult Sam, and make him the butt of offensive jokes since he got here!" She turned to Lauren and Brittany. "Don't you agree, as two young women in somewhat _controversial_ relationships, that Sam would prefer to 'hook up,'…" Rachel used air quotes to illustrate the usage of popular slang. "…with a female who's been nothing but nice to him?"

Lauren, Tina, and Brittany all rolled their eyes at the girl. "Nice to him, and nothing but evil to everybody else," Tina muttered, as Zizes took issue with part of Rachel's comment.

"Okay I get the part about Strawberry Shortcake here going out with ole 'Handi-man…" Lauren started. "…but what the fuck is controversial about me dating Puckerman, and what the hell does that have to do with you?"

"Well, obviously Noah is a pretty serious athlete, while you yourself are…" Rachel began.

"A STATE CHAMPION level athlete, Hobbit?" Lauren was becoming angry. "Is that what you were going to say?"

"No, no; that isn't what I was about to say…" Rachel blustered. "…actually what I meant was that Puckerman and you do not share religious beliefs, therefore I imagine it causes issues in your relationship." Lauren narrowed her eyes shrewdly, but allowed Rachel to take back the implied insult. "Much like Sam's status as a student teacher…" Rachel continued. "…and his advanced age would result in probable shakiness, should he decide to date a McKinley girl. I understand that, and I thrive on making the difficult look simple. Since Santana went to all the trouble of bringing us here to discuss the possibility, I thought I'd mention it while throwing my hat into the ring, so to speak…"

"Oh, you just want a cute boy around to make Finn jealous, _Bilbo_…" Quinn responded from where she sat between Santana and Rachel. "…somehow you've decided in that diseased brain of yours that you can get Finn back if you flaunt Sam in his face; and you want to use him, whether he's interested in you or not…" Quinn addressed Mercedes, "I told you last year, Mercedes; and now you see it for yourself. Rachel's fucking nutso…"

Mercedes nodded in agreement.

"Why are you so worried?" Rachel crowed victoriously at Quinn. "Scared it'll work and I'll jeopardize your Prom crown?" she turned back to Lauren adding, "That's all Blondie cares about; and anyway, it doesn't even matter…Finn's already on his way back to me. So what if I decide to let Sam distract me until it happens…"

"Oh get over yourself, _Dobby_!" Quinn retaliated. "If I wanted Sam, I'd have had him already…and you couldn't do a damn thing about it! I'm the most popular girl in school on top of being the prettiest girl in school; this little fixation deal you have going with Finn is equal parts _fascination with me_ and your own delusion that you can one day maybe be on my level. And I've got half a mind to prove it to you, just to see you squirm!"

"Well that for damn sure oughtta make the new boy feel appreciated…" Santana commented. "…I mean, who wouldn't want to join the Society for Motherfuckers Who Exist so Bitches can Trap Finn…" She turned to Zizes. "By the way, how'd that shit work out for your man?" Zizes shrugged, unable to argue Santana's point. "Which is why the Big Mouth Bass should come get on team Satan! Besides," she continued, "unlike you two freaks of nature…I put out; and what the hell teenage boy wouldn't wanna jump on a ready, willing, and able mistress?" she laughed lasciviously.

"Y'all so crazy," Mercedes finally spoke. "Like, seriously? You guys are 'please put us in a real life mental institution,' crazy…plus, I don't get why the hell my ass is even here at all." Mercedes had experienced a moment of pure horror at the thought of Sam getting involved with any one of the three currently planning to entice him, and cloaked her growing disappointment in Diva-tude. "I mean, if you three want to go out with the guy for whatever fucked-reasoning is flitting through your heads; what's the point in gathering all of us here to discuss it? Lauren's right. Usually you three do all your scheming behind the scenes…Why make such a big deal out of it this time?" Santana shot Mercedes a knowing look, but wasn't allowed to speak…Tina rejoined too quickly, and she never got the chance.

"Because Santana's scared shitless…" Tina answered shrewdly, while briefly nodding her allegiance in Mercedes' direction. "…She-Devil _knows_ Sam already likes a girl in class, and she wants to make sure that girl backs off so she can swoop in on him. That's why Satan told us to meet her here…"

"Sam already likes me?" Rachel asked, excitedly. She turned to explain to Brittany, who seemed to be quite lost. "I knew it! You see, this is just like when I advised Kurt to continue pursuing Blaine despite Blaine's apparent lack of interest. You see, boys are just like fame and stardom, ladies; all you have to do in this life to get what you want is show a little bit of determination and an unshakable will." She faced Tina and Mercedes, punching her fist into her palm victoriously. "I knew I'd get Sam, just like I eventually got Finn…Now all I have to do is let him know I'm interested in him as well. I can woo him, make gestures…I can ask him to Prom. Maybe bring him some Chapstick… Besides, what boy wouldn't be fascinated by my…"

"Can it, Troll…" Quinn cut her off. "…You scared the shit out of Finn with all your stalking; the only reason it worked at all in the end was because you flattered him constantly, and he was starving for the attention."

Rachel groused, knowing what Quinn said was probably true.

"Plus, at the time the girl he wanted was about to have his best friend's baby," Quinn shrugged and reluctantly admitted her own role in the creation of Finchel. "But either way, you're delusional… it's obvious Sam likes me." Smugly, she addressed the rest of the girls. "See, Sam's looking for a Barbie to go with his Ken, and he knows I'm his best bet for being admired around school." Quinn explained knowledgeably. "You know, it's almost too bad that I've learned my lesson about cheating now; I mean, we'd look great together on a Prom Queen and King poster…" the blonde said, thoughtfully; however she rallied almost immediately. "…but since he's already graduated from high school, I doubt they'd let him run. Don't worry about Sam, guys; I'll let him down easy," Quinn assured her friends. "That is, I'll let him down easy _after_ I badmouth Rachel to him a little…"

She shot Rachel a victorious look which Rachel pointedly ignored.

"Fuck that, Fabray…" Lauren countered. "…you may have Berry tricked with all that Queen Bee intimidation shit, but I know for a fact that Evans didn't mention your ass even once when Puckerman and I met him in the weight room yesterday afternoon. If he was crushing, wouldn't the dude have tried to pick our brains or something? As a matter of fact, the only chick he _did_ talk about was…" Zizes drifted off thoughtfully.

"You know," Brittany started. "I caught Sam looking at one of us girls a lot in class today…" she turned around to look everyone in the eye. "…they laughed a lot, together too. And it wasn't Quinn, Santana, _or_ Rachel. Tina's really smart, and she's probably right about him having a crush on somebody already. If it's the same girl I think he likes, then that means Sam wants to hook up with…"

"MERCEDES!" Tina laughed, loudly in all their faces. "Hottie-with-A-Body Sam Evans likes Too-Divalicious-For-Words Mercedes Jones…" she continued. "…so suck on that!" After casting a knowing smirk in the direction of all three girls who'd been plotting on his affections, she continued. "He likes the girl who laughed at his God-awful jokes…" Tina counted on her fingers. "…while everybody else made fun of him and snickered. He likes the girl he grilled me and Mike about at Breadstix, and the girl who defended him against you…" Tina pointed at Santana. "…and your fuckery. He doesn't like you…" she pointed to Quinn. "…you…" at Rachel. "Or anybody else… Just Mercedes!"

At this point the only ones in the room who weren't convinced were Quinn and Rachel…so Tina addressed them specifically to continue her rant. "Fact: Sam asks about Mercedes every time he and Mike talk on the phone. And they talk every damn night!"

She turned to her left and was pleased to see her friend's blushing face. "Girl…I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up at your church on Sunday or 'ran into you' at voice class sometime soon. Because Sam asked a bunch of questions and Mike answered every single one!" Mercedes lowered her eyes bashfully.

Tina turned back around to continue addressing Quinn and Rachel. "Fact: If you would actually take a little time to look at Sam in Glee class you'd see that he smiles every time Mercedes' name is brought up, and he totally mirrors everything she does. If she crosses her arms and shakes her head at Britt when she says something…er…funny?" Tina didn't know whether characterizing Brittany's ramblings as humorous would offend the blonde, so she paused long enough to make sure before continuing. When Britt smiled, she went on. "Sam does the same thing. And he laughs every time Mercedes does, too. Even if he has no clue what she's laughing at!"

"Yeah, I think Mercedes makes Sam happy," added Britt. "That's nice…"

"Fact…" Tina went on. "…when Mercedes sang in class, Sam's eyes glazed over like he was in a trance for a minute or two, and…"

"You know, you're right…" Lauren interrupted. "…I swear Puckerman and me thought his ass was high for a second there."

"Exactly," Tina agreed. "Plus, he's a genius and can read people like a library full of well-loved books. There's no way in hell Sam can't see by now that you…" she gestured towards Quinn again. "…are a cheater and a hustler; because trust…I already told him all about Babygate and how you cheated on Karofsky!" Quinn pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. "Hell," Tina continued "he can see for himself how cray-cray you've been acting about Prom Queen, so there's a good chance Sam thinks you're a fucking nutcase, to boot! Why would Sam wanna go for you?" Quinn looked affronted briefly, but promptly replaced her expression with one of icy calm. Tina, having had her say, turned to speak to Santana next.

"There's no way on Earth Sam can't tell that you, _Miss Espanol_…" Tina continued, nodding her head in the Latina's general directing. "…are the biggest, most manipulative harpy in the class; especially since you made a big-ass show of bragging about how you stole Karofsky from Quinn. Plus, you're like the bitchiest bitch who ever bitched. Who in the hell wants to put up with that?"

"Yeah, _Conchita Mexicali_…" Lauren got Santana back for all of the "affectionate" nicknames Santana had dished out so far. "…You have to be my kinda hot to keep dudes coming back for a bunch of abuse. And your ass ain't even there yet…"

Tina rolled her neck, sista-girl style and snapped her fingers for effect. "Which brings me to you, Patty Lupone…" She'd been waiting, longing even for a chance to go off on Rachel; so Tina fully intended to enjoy every single insult. "I'm not going to dwell on the way you bitched and moaned when Mr. Schuester gave me a song from _West Side Story_ last year, and then quit Glee when he wouldn't change his mind. I don't have to…since I know Mike already told Sam about it. So what would be the point?" Tina asked Rachel rhetorically.

Rachel hadn't expected those words to escape Tina's mouth, and reacted petulantly by glaring.

"I'm also not going to go into the way you almost ruined New Directions right before Sectionals last year by vindictively telling Finn that Puck was Quinn's babydaddy," Tina went on. "Again, Sam already knows…why beat a dead horse?"

Now Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and seemed visibly annoyed, which prompted Lauren and Brittany to giggle, somewhat uncontrollably.

"What Sam _doesn't_ know yet -but I'm sure my girl, here, will tell him all about once they start dating…" Tina shot a triumphant smirk towards Mercedes, who was listening with rapt attention, but adding nothing to the conversation. "…that I strongly feel needs to be addressed _right now_; is this bullshit sense of entitlement you seem to have with respect to stuff you want." Tina splayed her hands and gestured sarcastically, glaring at the tiny diva who'd finally gone too far. "Good things, like solos and boyfriends and spotlights…things that others may or may not want just as much as you. Let's talk about the fact that you then you pair that over-exaggerated sense of entitlement with a complete lack of empathy for others, on top of an out-of-this-world persecution complex. I honestly don't know why the people in this school –hell, the whole fucking town- aren't terrified of you!" Tina snapped.

By that time Quinn and Santana were over feeling insulted by Tina and started laughing, right along with Brittany and Lauren.

"They probably think that since we Glee kids are your best friends…" Tina continued to bark. "…that we show you just enough love and acceptance to keep your crazy ass off the school clock tower with an assault rifle. What they don't know is that I _don't _accept your faults…and to use a phrase my bestie taught me recently; I personally think you needs to be put _up under_ somebody's mental institution. And what you fail to realize is that I'm just as scary as you are; only I hide the shit way better. You think you were scared of Santana when she leapt out at you from the risers during Duets Week? Think you were grateful because we managed to keep her from getting her hands on you?"

Tina stood and started to approach Rachel slowly.

"Yes," Rachel squeaked, standing up cautiously, and still remembering her underlying fear of Tina from those days when she'd dressed like an Asian vampire.

"Well, I'd be on you before the class could catch me and hold me back…" Tina threatened, still approaching her nemesis. "You remember how Quinn and the Cheerios made you miserable and got all the Titans to target you with slushies? Remember how they heckled you on MySpace and how much you hated coming to school?"

"Yes," Rachel continued to back away from the menacing girl.

"Try me Bitch…" Tina said, simply. "White girl cunts _wish_ they could do character assassination like a bonafied Ninja Bitch can. JBI doesn't call me See-You-Next-Tina for nothing!"

Santana and Mercedes, the only two other women of color in the room, understood without clarification…and nodded in agreement. Quinn and Brittany both looked lost.

"Do you also remember the way you always tried to get in good with Mercedes and Kurt, only to be rejected time and time again?" Tina continued, still inching toward Rachel. "Remember all those sleepovers you weren't invited to? Remember how you and Kurt only got close after Blaine was in the picture, distracting him from Mercedes; and how you only managed to swoop in on Kurt at last because you were dating his stepbrother?"

"Yes, I remember…" Rachel moved more quickly, so that Tina couldn't touch her. It didn't work. Tina grabbed Rachel's arm and pulled the girl close to her so as to speak directly into her face. "…because just like you have Kurt for now, Mercedes has me for life. I have her back… I'll always have her back, and you can't lure me away from her like you did him. Even though it seems like the shine is coming off that rose, anyway; if today is any indication." Tina mumbled thoughtfully, before continuing her tirade. "I'll be damned, Liza, if your acute case of Crazy-Bitch is gonna jeopardize my girl's budding relationship with Sam! So you _will _stay the hell out of his way, and you_ will_ watch from afar with a heart full of jealousy… when he comes to school all high on 'Cedes-Love."

Mercedes began blushing again. The others continued to laugh.

"If anything in the world happens to come between my new OTP –and that includes him moving away, her needing space, Cheerio-ho fuckery, or her family having a problem with him being White- then I'm holding _you _personally responsible, Berry!" Tina said Rachel's last name with a vehemence she usually reserved for describing child-rapists and cat-skinners and poked her forefinger into Rachel's chest repeatedly. "So get it through your mind that you have very little choice here. You need to align yourself with Team Samcedes, posthaste, _Tiny-Tits_. And you need to do it before I convert your ass forcefully…because trust me; you can't come between them if I rip out your vocal cords..."

"Tina," Mercedes started, not wanting to further incite the wrath of TCC, but also not wanting the conversation to continue in the vein. "Relax. This whole thing really is _not _that serious…Sam and I may flirt a little, but we haven't even hung out together. Don't you think you should wait until the two of us…I don't know…have a date before you threaten bitches for coming between us?" Tina let go of Rachel, who immediately bolted for the door.

"Fuck that…" Tina demanded fiercely, turning around. "…Samcedeians for life!"

"Same here, Ms. Jones," added Lauren. She was tickled by her duet partners' mean side, and willing to do anything to see more of it. "Y'all would be cute together. I'm in, Cohen-Chang. Let me know if I need to knock some heads…" she declared, gathering her things. "Later losers. As you guys already know, Puckerman and I have plans…" Lauren threw over her shoulder as she left the room.

"Me too," said Brittany. She liked Sam, and Mercedes as well. So even though her own love life was a mess, Britt wanted to see everyone happy. "Not about the long-hair thing, and not about the fighting, either; I don't like violence. But I think they should get together soon." She blew a kiss to everyone in the room before exiting after Zizes.

"I'm leaving," Quinn rolled her eyes. "I can't condone all this anti-White rhetoric, Tina; and I'm really disappointed because I honestly thought you were above that kind of thing…" She glared at Tina, who returned it unapologetically. "But I won't do anything to get between them, either," Quinn was quick to say. "Mercedes and Sam could be a really great couple." Then she, too, beat a hasty retreat.

"Well, you're off your got-dammed rocker if you think I'm scared of your judo tricks and nunchucks, Ling-Ling…" Santana got up and gathered her own belongings in order to follow Quinn. "…but I ain't gonna mess with Wheezy either. I just figured if I staked my claim on Vagina Face first, then she'd back off…alls fair right?" She turned to Mercedes. "But Lucy Liu here ain't wrong, though. I saw all the sparks you two were throwing off, and I was counting on you being too good a friend to get all up on 'ole Country Boy Adonis if you knew I was after him first. I just didn't expect your homegirl to already be so damn invested," she laughed. "Go'ne and get his ass, girl…and I _wants_ the play-by-play after you do!" Then she left, leaving Mercedes and Tina alone.

"So?" Tina crossed her arms and waited for her friend to thank her for interfering.

"So, what?" Mercedes refused. "He's not my man; hasn't even asked me out. Nothing has changed…"

"Not yet, anyway…" Tina responded sinisterly. And with that, she twirled around and left the room…leaving Mercedes alone with her thoughts…

* * *

**A/N: Songs used in this chapter:**

**2Gether: _The Hardest Part of Breaking Up_**

**Red Hot Chilli Peppers: _Give It Away_**

**Mario: _Just A Friend 2002_**

**KISS: _God Gave Rock And Roll To You_**

**Urinetown, The Musical: _I See A River_**

**Adele: _Make You Feel My Love_**

**I guess I should explain how and why Sam knows so much about different types of music, huh? **

**Okay, so one of the things I loved about Schuester in the beginning of the series was the way was written to truly come across as a connoisseur of all musical genres back then. He listened to and knew old songs like the ones I loved in high school, he tried to get into the stuff the kids were into, he appreciated the classics… the whole nine. But as time went on, Will lost that. More and more often in canon its **_**the kids**_** who come up with more inspired song choices; while he persists in picking crap. And even on those occasions where they team goes to competition with a well thought out set list (which ain't that often-the most recent example I can come up with was the Jackson set list from S3E8) it still falls short because the competition always picks better. Like, in **_**Hold On To Sixteen**_**…who in the hell thought the Troubletones' mash-up wasn't ****(better than)**** as good as the NDs? Or the Nationals deal during Season 3? Unique and Vocal Adrenaline picked way better songs, in m opinion. Sorry, not sorry. **

**Digression aside, at some point the writers started to portray Will as stubborn… you know; a dictator. And the songs reflected that. I suppose I wanted my Sam to be what my own high school band director and music teachers were…a real music lover. So make up something for yourself that fits in here. I don't know; maybe the boy had music therapy as part of his dyslexia training as a child.**

**In this chapter I really wanted for Tina to really have a go at Quinn, Santana and Rachel. A true come-to-Jesus showdown. Her loyalty to Mercedes demands it. And I'd actually planned for the seeing-to to come off as more equal. But like always, Rachel pissed me off. So she got the brunt of the burn…Sorry, yall.**

**Also, I always felt like Quinn must have spent a lot of time early on in S2 badmouthing Rachel to Sam when they dated. Because of how readily Sam turned Rachel's ass down for Prom. Yeah, that may have just been because he'd seen how manipulative she was with his own two eyes…of course, Broadway Baby hadn't even done the whole **_**Rumours **_**shit at the time; but Sam may have figured it out when Rachel cheated on Finn with Puck. Also, it was obvious that Rachel only asked Sam out to make Finn jealous. So that also could have contributed to the boy shutting Rachel down, in addition to Satan telling him she would steal his gold ;).  
**

**But still…Quinn definitely had some shit to say about her ex and the loser freak he'd dumped her for. And probably bitched about it to her new Boo. So that's my headcanon and I'm sticking to it.**

**The next chapter will be further explanation of Tina's machinations. Well, Tina's and Mike's machinations. They're plotting, y'all…and it's gonna be glorious!**

**Thanks for all the review love, the follows and the faves. I'm so flattered, you guys…**

**Love you all!**

**Kay**


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